MANILA, Philippines – Ryan Joseph Jaworski, son of basketball legend and former senator Robert Jaworski Sr, filed on Wednesday, September 23, a motion to dismiss the 3 criminal charges filed against him.
Jaworski is facing charges of attempted murder, direct assault upon an agent of person in authority, and illegal possession of firearms. He figured in an alleged shootout with members of the Regional Police Intelligence Operation Unit (RPIOU) of the National Capital Region Police Office’s (NCRPO) past 1 am on Saturday, September 19.
The 40-year-old Jaworski was arrested on Saturday at the Makati Medical Center (MMC), where he sought for treatment for a gunshot wound on his thigh. The driver of Jaworski’s getaway vehicle, Joselito Au, was also arrested in the hospital.
Au later told GMA News’ State of the Nation that he is not involved in gunrunning activities and only drove the vehicle of his friend Jaworski.
NCRPO spokesperson Chief Inspector Kim Molitas told Rappler over the phone on Wednesday that there is an ongoing manhunt for the 3rd accomplice, Ferdinand Parago, who escaped from the police on Saturday.
Molitas said that RPIOU placed Jaworski’s group under surveillance for alleged gunrunning activities or the illegal trafficking of contraband weapons and ammunition.
The RPIOU attempted to conduct a firearm buy-bust operation in front of a coffee shop along Chino Roces Avenue corner Pasay Road in Makati with the help of an undercover police officer pretending to buy a firearm from Jaworski.
“I think when they were exchanging messages again, Ryan maybe had a sense that he was dealing with a police officer kasi parang naging hesitant daw siya (because he became hesitant). So when he noticed the surveillance vehicle from his car, pinutukan niya 'yung sasakyan (he fired at the vehicle),” said Molitas.
However, Jaworksi, through his lead counsel Richard Nethercott, argued in his motion that the firearm buy-bust operation was “flawed, without basis, and therefore, illegal.”
The arguments of Jaworski, who is still confined at the MMC, include the following: that the firearm involved was licensed and therefore not illegal to sell, there was no consummated sale, and that Jaworski did not fire upon the police complainants.
The motion was filed by Jaworksi legal counsels Terence John Dawang and Paul Javalera Bongco before the Office of Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Gaudencio Tolledo Jr in Makati on Wednesday.
According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jaworski was arrested for shooting rats in a vacant lot in San Juan City in 2002. Two years later, both of his legs were wounded after a shootout with a trader’s son in San Juan.
Police report
According to a report from the Makati City Police, the first shots were fired from the Nissan Sentra, with plate number WNE 425, that Jaworski’s group was riding on Saturday morning.
They hit one of the two vans boarded by the undercover police, which prompted the officers to fire back. Jaworski’s car then escaped by passing through Gil Puyat Avenue.
According to Molitas, the RPIOU team received information that Jaworski was at the MMC seeking treatment for a gunshot wound.
The Nissan Sentra was also found in the MMC’s basement, which the police report said had a bullet hole on the windshield. A gun casing of an unknown caliber was found on the car floor. A shotgun and various types of ammunition were also found in the trunk.
No criminal intent?
In his motion, Jaworski said that in an entrapment, “the criminal intent or design to commit the offense charged originates in the mind of the accused and law enforcement officials merely facilitate the apprehension of the criminal by employing ruses and schemes; thus, the accused cannot justify his or her conduct.”
However, Jaworski argued that there was no criminal intent because the text messages between him and the undercover police would show that he “merely acted as an agent offering for sale a licensed firearm.”
He said the firearm in question was a Benelli M4 super 90, a type of shotgun which may be licensed and owned by a civilian.
“Nevertheless, there is no proof that Respondent Ryan Jaworski actually transported the subject firearm neither was the purported seller caught, in an instance, transporting a licensed firearm,” the motion reads.
According to Jaworski, the firearm buy-bust operation was not consummated because there was no actual selling of the firearm.
As for the shootout, Jaworski maintained he did not fire upon the police complainants because based on the text message exchange, he “was already inclined to go home as early as 11:53 pm” on September 18.
He also included a copy of his paraffin test results conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to determine if his left and right hands have the presence of nitrates. The said test, which was requested by his brother, Robert “Dodot” Jaworski Jr, yielded negative results.
Based on the foregoing, Jaworski said that the police search on the Nissan Sentra was “illegal” and that his arrest was “invalid.”
“Wherefore, premises considered, it is respectfully prayed upon this Honorable Office to immediately dismiss the cases against Respondent Jaworski under lack of merit," the motion said.
Counter-charges vs police
Jaworski also filed counter-charges against the members of the RPIOU who were involved in the incident.
“Based on the foregoing, Respodent Ryan Jaworski hereby charges herein complainants of violation of Section 38, RA 10591, Frustrated Murder under Art 250 in relation to Art 6 of the Revised Penal Code, and other crimes as may determined by herein Honorable Investigating Public Prosecutor,” said the motion.
Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Tolledo gave the police complainants, led by Police Inspector Joy Opalec, until Monday, September 28, to submit their comment or opposition to Jaworski’s motion to dismiss and the counter-charges filed against them.
Jaworski also filed a separate motion for the NBI to conduct a full and separate, if not parallel, investigation of his case apart from the already ongoing probe of the Makati Central Police Station, Investigation Branch, Homicide Unit.
He believes that because members of the Philippine National Police were involved in the incident, “it is more appropriate that a neutral investigating body conduct its own full investigation.” – Rappler.com