Introduction to Criminal Justice
Professor Karina
May 24, 2014
Trials and Verdicts
The supreme court of Philippines blocked a move by the defendant to try and pay bail as well as to enter a plea bargain in which he could then buy his freedom and go free without getting a full sentence for his crimes. The defendant in this case was a senior general who had been charged with several graft cases and he is former military comptroller Major General Carlos Garcia. The Supreme Court was the best jurisdiction to take over this case because it has the highest authority to handle cases ion the entire nation of Philippines. As such, it has the ability to preside over cases involving highly influential people and large amounts of money, in which courts with lower authority could be easily corrupt. Moreover, judges in lower courts may be intimidated, or their authority undermined. In this case, the defendant faced charges against the government and as such, the government wanted stricter punishment for theMajor General Carlos Garcia so that he could serve as an example to the rest of the nation for involving in such atrocious crime.
According to the Court, the Major General was accused with squandering money from the government during his term in office as the top finance official. During this time, the accused is said to have stolen an a sum of money not less than three hundred million pesos, which is equivalent to $6.99 million, and which was used to purchase property both in the Philippines and the US for both his family and himself. This case was only made known in the year 2003 and has continued to trouble the courts since then. However, the Supreme Court intervened after the anti-graft court ruled that the accused be given a plea bargain in which he would be let to go if he paid 135 million pesos. The Supreme Court refused to
