The rape trial of “It’s Showtime” host and comedian Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro will start in February next year and will be held until 2024.
Navarro is accused of raping model Deniece Cornejo on Jan. 17, 2014 inside her condominium unit in Taguig.
The 45-year-old star was released from the Taguig City Jail Male Dormitory on Dec. 6 after posting a P1 million bail set by the Taguig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 69.
The court granted Navarro’s petition for bail, ruling that “viewed in light of all the foregoing, and taking the evidence presented in the bail hearings as a whole, this Court is not convinced at this point, that there exists a presumption great leading to the inference of the accused’s guilt.”
In her order of release from detention for Navarro dated Dec. 6, Presiding Judge Loralie Cruz Datahan set the dates of the rape trial, which will last for 21 months or until 2024.
The judge ordered that the presentation of the prosecution’s evidence-in-chief will be held starting on Feb. 16 next year, the first trial date.
The order stated 12 other dates from March 9, 2023 up to April 11, 2024 in which the prosecution will present its evidence or one hearing per month.
For the Navarro camp, they will present their evidence starting on May 16, 2024 and on five other dates with the last one on Nov. 14, 2024.
Navarro had repeatedly denied that he raped Cornejo. Cornejo’s rape complaints were revived by the Court of Appeals (CA) in a decision last July, ordering the Taguig Prosecutor’s Office to file cases of rape and acts of lasciviousness against Navarro.
He was arraigned in the rape case on Oct. 11 and refused to enter a plea, prompting the Taguig court to enter a “not guilty” plea on his behalf.
Navarro’s camp has filed a petition for review on certiorari before the Supreme Court on the CA’s decision and resolution dated Sept. 20, which denied the TV host's motion for reconsideration or appeal about the CA order in July.
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