slight physical injury

good day,

i just want to know what to expect and what to do during arraignment.

my husband is asked of counter affidavit but the municipal said they don't have the affidavit we submitted last 2009, as we need to refer from it.

what's the worst scenario in this kind of case. a woman filed complaint stating my husband hit her and submitted medico legal which says it took 2 wks for her to recuperate.

this is false accusation, and we have witnesses and submitted their statements. but then after almost two yrs. we received a mail saying my husband is guilty and he should present another affidavit and attend an arraignment on the last week of april.

what will happen then and what are the penalties, bails and procedure.

the complainant boast that they are relative to the judge and lawyer, and when the case was still in brgy level, the complainant always threatens my husband. and suffer incidents like somebody slashed our tire, stolen our side mirror and scratch the paint of our car. the trouble started when they bump into our car.

thanks alot in advance for your reply.

their influence was so strong that it took 2 years for the resolution to be issued?

you can inform the court that you are adopting the affidavits of your witnesses during the Preliminary investigation.

do not fail to attend the arraignment or else warrant of arrest will be issued. does the resolution say 'no bail recommended'?

yes, it says no bail recommended, what does it means.

and kindly answer my queries as we would like to understand this matter more. it is quite stressful.

thanks alot.

it means the charge is so light that the won't even ask your to file bail for your temporary liberty. just appear at the arraignment.

the municipal lawyer says this case will now appear on the record of my husband's nbi, is that true?

he's planning to apply for work abroad after two yrs. we are worried that it may affect his future plans.

thanks alot for your reply..

it should appear, but there's a chance that it will not if the documentation is not done properly. for sure it will appear in his nbi record if he does not appear at the hearing and a warrant of arrest is issued.

the complainant didn't appear during the arraignment. (thank God) but we know that we shouldn't be complacent. there will be mediation coming, what can we except from that. we plead not guilty. in this case, can the complainant ask for settlement.

thanks alot.

yes, the complainant can ask for settlement. if they don't appear, there may be JDR or the case be already sent back to court. and if still no appearance, then the case can be dismissed.

sir what do u mean by jdr. and di sila umattend first time, and pagdating s mediation kung pumunta sila dun sila mag ask ng settlement can they do that. then, dhil hindi nmn po tlga guilty ang husband ko. what will happen if we will turn down their asking for settlement.

thanks alot.

JDR is judicial dispute resolution. it is mediation, but there is a judge.

if you will not settle, the case will continue.

in our case, what do u think is the best that we should do. we don't want to do any settlement as we know that we didn't do anything bad to them. but if i'm going to consider all the stress and the time it takes, i think it's taking too much. that i almost consider to do settlement (though my husband doesn't agree). i just want to ask if how much will be the amount of settlement that can be consider fair to both us (though from the very start all these things were unfair to us). just for the sake of ending up all these things. i am thinking if they will gonna ask for something big then might as well this case will continue..but if they will gonna ask something fairly enough, then settlement might be possible. but please give us an idea of what to do, or how much to go for.

thank you very much

the worst thing that can happens is that you will have a criminal record in your NBI clearance. if you are convicted, you can apply for probation, or you can appeal it all the way to the supreme court but run the risk of imprisonment for up to 30 days.

assess the risk and the cost of defending yourself and then make an offer.

if they will ask for settlement and we refuse can we change our mind and make an offer later on?

thanks alot.

settlement can be done any time but it requires consent by both parties.

the complainant didn't appear for the second time, during the mediation, then it was rescheduled and transfered to another municipality (don't understand why). if in case the complainant didn't attend for the 3rd time, is there anything that we should do in order the filed case to be dismissed, or is it on the judge discrimination whether to dismiss or reschedule again.

thanks alot.