 |
| A full hearing of the case is set on Sept 20 at the High Court (File) |
In
an unusual application, a Filipina who was set to be sentenced for drug
trafficking instead asked the High Court today, Thursday, to allow her to reverse
her guilty plea.
A
lawyer for Liza D. Soriano, 44, a former domestic helper, said she was not in
her proper state of mind the night before she entered a guilty plea at Eastern
Court on Nov. 23 last year.
Barrister
Peter Pannu also told the court that there was sufficient evidence that Soriano
had merely agreed to a friend’s request to pick up the package containing
nearly one kilo of the drug known as ice, without knowing what it contained.
She was arrested by customs operatives on Jul 28, 2022 in front of a building in Sai Ying Pun after she picked up the parcel containing the drugs.
 |
| Basahin ang detalye! |
“This
case is crying out for a day in court,” said Pannu.
Senior
Public Prosecutor Raymond Chow who opposed the application said he was ready to
examine Soriano about her claim, arguing, among other things, that she had a
lot of time to reconsider her plea but only did so just before her scheduled
sentencing.
After
hearing from both counsel, Recorder Derek Chan, S.C., decided to reset the case
to Sept. 20, and gave Soriano until Sept. 13 to submit additional affidavits if she
wished, to support her application.
She
was remanded in custody until then.
In
arguing for the application, Pannu cited a WhatsApp message on Jul 13, 2022 between
Soriano and her friend, Jean, a fellow Filipina, in which the latter asked the defendant
to pick up “something” for her husband, for which she would be paid between $1,000 and $1,500.
Soriano,
who was reportedly made to understand that she was picking up mobile phones, replied
in Filipino that there was no need to pay her so much as she was already earning money from babysitting. “$500
is ok with me,” she said.
Pannu
said this showed Soriano’s innocence, as no drug trafficker would voluntarily
offer to to be paid a lot less money for something as dangerous a task.
But when she went to do the bidding, nobody showed up with the package. Pannu said this was a “trial run” for the actual pickup a few days later, during which Soriano was arrested.
The next day, Jean turned on the “disappearing messages” in their WhatsApp conversation so nothing more was recorded in Soriano’s phone about the subsequent pick-up.
Pannu
said that after her arrest, Soriano readily gave the arresting officers the password to her phone,
which again indicated she was not complicit to the offense. He
said it was Jean’s husband, said to be of African descent, who was the real
drug trafficker.
Chow
for his part said Soriano had “months to change her plea” but did not do so, and that it was not
fair to say that the defense counsel made her plead guilty to the charge.
He
also argued that it was normal for any defendant about to be arraigned to feel
anxious the night before.
“She
did intend to plead guilty,” he said. “It was only on hindsight that she
decided to change her plea.”
Nevertheless,
he agreed that if he is proved wrong, Soriano should have her day in court.
Pannu
had argued that the overriding consideration in the case should be that the
interest of justice is served.
.jpg)
