S1L23 – Admissions and Denials, feat. Miss Deema Niwala
Miss Deema Niwala, are you around?”
“I’m here, sir. I’m always present. In fact, I always sit in front and you barely take notice of my presence.”
This is one of those great mysteries of the universe. Whenever I do a roll call, male students usually just say “here!” or “present!” but the ladies….never mind.
“Today, class, since this subject is FORENSIC EVIDENCE, I want to discuss with you ‘admissions’ and ‘denials.’ Deema, listen to these facts of the case, then I will ask a series of questions to help your classmates know how to prepare a counteraffidavit in a criminal case.”
I could see Deema was about to open her mouth, but I caught her in time, “No, no, no—wait for it,” I said. She rolled her eyes.
“Pedro, a philandering husband, was in the house of his mistress when at 2:40 AM his wife came knocking on the front door…”
“That bastard…!” she blurted out.
“Let me finish, Deemaaaa…! (more eyerolling)…so in a fit of panic, and to avoid getting caught, he jumped out of a low window in the back, not knowing that a neighbor, Magdalena, saw him…”
“…and Magdalena ran up to the wife to tell on him, sir?” Deema jumped in right away.
“No, she did not. However, she posted in her Facebook that—and this is a direct quote—‘some men are like thieves in the night, jumping out of windows afraid of getting caught.’”
“I can see why you had to call a woman to recite first, sir. Normally, your first reciter is always either Juan or Jack. You assume us women are experts on infidelity. I sense a little bit of sexism here, sir…” Deema said, plus eyeroll.
“I apologize,” I said, “anyway, continuing, Pedro sued Magdalena for libel and in his complaint Pedro said ‘Magdalena told everybody on Facebook that I jumped out of a window. In fact, I left that house five hours earlier!’ So my question is, evaluate the forensic value of Pedro’s statement. Go!”
Ms. Deema Niwala was so raring to go, she was gritting her teeth.
“Sir, Pedro just made a negative pregnant admission. The point of allegation was that he jumped out of a window. The correct denial is ‘I did NOT jump out of a window.’ By saying he left five hours earlier, he evaded the issue and failed to refute the specific allegation. An unrefuted allegation is a specific admission.”
Deema had always been one of my best students. In fact, she mostly tops all their exams.
“Did you get that class?” I said, taking over from the girl, “Just like I said the other time, when you ask your friend ‘maganda ba yung misis niya’ if the reply is ‘mabait’ then the woman must be ugly.”
“Sexism, siiiir….!” Deema snarled.
“Oh, I’m sorry… but you all get the point. In the example I gave, the factum probandum—” Deema interrupted me..
“NO, no, no, sir—I’m the one reciting here. Let me finish that thought. The factum probandum is what is sought to be proven. Did Pedro jump out of a window or not? The issue there is mode of exit. In his denial ‘I left five hours earlier’ the issue he raises is time of departure. Those two issues do not meet. When two facta probanda do not meet, there is a failure of proof.”
“And that is indicative of what, Miss Deema?”
“It is indicative that Pedro is the one lying, sir.”
“Did you get that, class? That’s how you must attack your counteraffidavit. The rules of evidence provides you every insight you need. No MAN can add to that anymore.”
“Sexism again, siiiir…!” Deema objected, “maybe no man can add any more insights to the textbook but I’m a woman. I always have something to add.”
The whole class directed their attention at Deema, especially two gentlemen named Juan Dimacaawat and Jack Makataruz. Everybody knew Deema was good, but HOW good can she really get when she is provoked—which I think I did.
“Alright, Deema, we’re all ears. What more can you prove out of those limited facts?”
“Well, sir, Pedro said he left five hours earlier…”
“Yes…? So ..?”
“Then that bastard admits he was in the house. Frankly, sir, I don’t care if he jumped out of a window, or the backdoor or even the chimney. I don’t even care what time he left. He was STILL IN THE HOUSE OF THE MISTRESS so I’d still KILL the sanamagan!!!”
Touché!
The author is a writer and lawyer based in Baguio City, Philippines. Former editor of the Gold Ore and Baguio City Digest, professor of journalism, political science and law at Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF). He is a photographer and video documentarist. He has a YouTube channel called “Parables and Reason”