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Ex-Lacson aide appeals denial of habeas corpus bid in US


CHICAGO – Former police official Michael Ray Aquino, an accused in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case, has appealed a United States’ court decision denying his bid for habeas corpus and affirming his extradition to the Philippines. Aquino filed the notice of appeal with the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third District in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to Rebekah Carmichael, spokesperson of the US Attorney General’s office in Newark, New Jersey. A check with the records of Third Circuit Court of Appeals showed that Aquino filed the notice as “pro se," meaning without the aid of a lawyer. Aquino’s notice was notarized by Denise McKinney of Hudson County, New Jersey. Aquino also notified the US Attorney, represented by Assistant US Attorney Erik T. Kanefsky, on the appeal notice. The notice was addressed to Judge Stanley R. Chesler of the US District Court in Newark. Chesler denied Aquino’s habeas corpus petition last October 14. “The Court having considered the papers filed by the parties; and the Court having considered the Opinion of Magistrate Judge (Esther) Salas docketed as In the Matter of Extradition of Michael Ray Aquino and for the reasons expressed in the Opinion, it is ordered that Aquino’s petition for writ of habeas corpus be and is hereby denied and it is further ordered that this case be and hereby is closed," Chesler’s October 14 order read. No lawyer Aquino, an indigent, had been represented by his court-appointed lawyer Mark Berman. Berman could not be reached for comment why Aquino had dispensed with his services. Marcia M. Waldron, clerk of the US Court of Appeals, informed concerned parties that notice of appeals is “considered timely if filed no later than 28 days after the entry of judgment." Since Aquino filed his notice beyond this period, Waldron said, “the requirements for the filing of appearance form, disclosure statement and civil appeal information statement are waived for pro se litigants." In his habeas corpus petition, Aquino asked Judge Chesler to grant his petition “because Magistrate Judge Salas erred in finding probable cause in the underlying extradition proceeding." Evidence Aquino said his extradition was not supported by sufficient evidence. Chesler, however, denied Aquino’s petition, opting not to disturb the opinion of Judge Salas, who found that upon review of both written and oral submissions, the Philippine Government “has met its burden in providing sufficient evidence to establish probable cause" connecting Aquino to the abduction and killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. Aquino, 43, was one of the three former Philippine police officialst he Dacer-Corbito who sought refused in the US. The other two, Cezar Mancao II and Glenn Dumlao, had already been extradited to the Philippines, with Mancao now a state witness. Their former superior in the police force, Panfilo Lacson, now a senator, is being hunted by Philippine government agents for allegedly masterminding the Dacer-Corbito killings. Lacson fled the Philippines in January 2010 but the Department of Justice (DOJ) said intelligence reports showed that the lawmaker has already returned to the country. - KBK, GMANews.TV

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