This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2000-11-17 |
BELLOSILLO, J. |
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| This Court is not unaware of cases where we held that it was unthinkable for a youthful rape victim to undergo the humiliation of a public trial unless she was merely protecting her honor and bringing to justice the person who raped her.[11] However, this does not remove the necessity of scrutinizing the testimony of the complaining witness with extreme caution. The trial court was probably convinced that Khristine gave a truthful account of what actually transpired during her ordeal considering her demeanor, her apparent immaturity, youthfulness and lack of malice. But we are not as easily convinced, as we are conscious of our constitutional duty to exact proof beyond reasonable doubt before convicting an accused. Although we do not generally disturb conclusions of the trial court on credibility of witnesses, we will do so in this case as the lower court has clearly overlooked certain facts of substance. An examination of Khristine's testimony and demeanor reveals spatters of irregularities that the lower court apparently overlooked, but are simply too glaring for us to ignore. | |||||