Pinoy on Saipan acquitted of theft a day after guilty verdict

SUSUPE, Saipan – Guilty, then, not guilty. A Filipino accountant who was found guilty on Thursday by a jury for stealing over $120,000 from the company he worked for was acquitted a day later by a judge, citing lack of sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed all 13 counts of theft by deception. Edgardo Macabalo, from Caloocan, was in tears as he and his wife hugged family members who were in the CNMI Superior Court Friday when the judge said he was discharged the case. “Right now I just want to be with my family," Macabalo said as he emerged from the courtroom with his family. He said justice has been served and thanked the Public Defender’s Office for its help in his case. CNMI Superior Court Associate Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona reversed the jury’s guilty verdict after completely reviewing all the records in the case. She said she would issue a written order. On Thursday afternoon, a jury found Macabalo, a former accountant at Marpac Inc., guilty of all 13 counts of theft by deception for stealing over $120,000 from his employer’s beer delivery collections in 2005. Police arrested Macabalo in May 2006 for theft. Macabalo allegedly collected $4,000, $4,000, $10,000, $20,000, $6,400, $16,000, $16,000, $10,000, $4,000, $4,200, $354.75, $12,000 and $14,000, for a total of $120,954.75, but he never turned over the money to the company, according to an investigator. But on Friday morning, the judge granted the renewed motion for judgment of acquittal filed by Assistant Public Defender Richard Miller, counsel for Macabalo. Miller told local media that the judge's decision is a wonderful thing for the justice system of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and the growth of justice in the islands. He said the prosecution did not meet the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Macabalo is guilty. The CNMI is home to about 20,000 foreign workers mostly from the Philippines and China. - Haidee V. Eugenio, GMANews.TV