Court rules out Repeki acquittal

Superior Court Associate Judge Timothy H. Bellas threw out the plea of convicted felon Eugene B. Repeki Jr. for a judgment of acquittal on the murder of Filipino security guard Cesario B. Valerio on May 4, 1999.

A jury ruled on Dec. 14, 2000 that Mr. Repeki was guilty of second degree murder . His alleged co-conspirators, Anthony Magofna and Thomas Ch. Basa, stand to undergo the same trial this year.

However, Mr. Repeki claimed that the evidence presented during the trail failed to sustain the verdict as the evidence shows that his acts did not cause the injury which led to the death of Mr. Valerio.

Mr. Valerio, 40, was on duty as a security guard at Courtney’s Plaza Commercial Building on Saipan when he was brutally attacked by the three men. According to the testimony of Mr. Basa, his companions Mr. Magofna and Mr. Repeki became involved in an argument with Mr. Valerio at the building after consuming a number of beers.

Mr. Basa said the victim challenged them to fight and even taunted them. In response to the taunts of the security guard, Mr. Basa ran upstairs, removed his belt and swinging it at the security guard who was in possession of a pair of scissors and mace.

Mr. Magofna then grabbed Mr. Valerio from behind and held him. He added that Mr. Valerio was able to stab Mr. Magofna with the scissors. This led Mr. Repeki to hit the security guard with a heavy metal ashtray. Mr. Basa admitted that he, along with companions Mr. Repeki and Mr. Magofna, even kicked the security guard as he lay on the ground and ran way from the scene.

In his motion for judgment of acquittal filed through counsel Danny Aguilar, Mr. Repeki maintained that the victim’s injuries were sustained during a sudden quarrel thus there was no element of malice. As a result of this, the conviction for second degree murder cannot stand.

According to Judge Bellas, the only way to decide whether malice existed in the mind of Mr. Repeki during the killing was to infer from his acts during the incident.

Malice does not simply mean hatred or ill will but also embraces a state of mind with which one intentionally commits a wrongful act without legal justification or excuse.

In this case, there was ample evidence to sustain the jury’s finding that it was not a sudden quarrel but a vicious and unprovoked attack in which Mr. Repeki deliberately smashed the victim in the head with a heavy, metal ashtray and that such acts were performed with the knowledge of danger and with conscious disregard for the life of Mr. Valerio.

Judge Bellas said the ” finding of intentional conduct is perfectly consisted with the jury’s rejection of the defense of self defense and the option of a verdict of voluntary manslaughter on which the jury was also instructed.”

At the same time, Mr. Basa testified that he saw Mr. Repeki hit Valerio with the ashtray on the right, and not the left side of the head. Mr. Repeki said there was again no evidence establishing that he committed any act leading to the injury of death of Mr. Valerio.

However, Judge Bellas said in making such argument, Mr. Repeki overlooked the unrefuted testimony at the trial establishing that only him beat the victim on the head with the ashtray and there was only on blow to Mr. Valerio’s head.

This was supported by the testimony of Dr. Eric Legaspi that the victim indeed died from a blow to the head, an evidence which was more than enough to support a jury finding.

The sentencing of Mr. Repeki will be held on Feb. 8, 2001. (LFR)