Lawyer Sylvia Flores filed the petitions before the Angeles Municipal Trial Court where the actor is facing charges of civil disobedience for fleeing a checkpoint here last Monday night, and the Angeles Regional Trial Court where he is facing non-bailable illegal possession of marijuana which was found in his car by cops who ran after him.
Fernandez remained detained yesterday at the Angeles Police Station 6, in a cell measuring 804 square meters accommodating close to 2,000 inmates, after the police was accused of giving him special treatment by providing him a cell all his own.
In seeking to defer the arraignment of Fernandez, Flores cited the claim of his stepmother Lorna Tolentino that his human rights were violated when the Camp Olivas regional police presented him to media without the benefit of legal counsel.
In a media interview, Fernandez admitted possessing one kilo of marijuana he had allegedly bought from a source in this city. But at the police press conference, he said it was planted by the police. He made the statements without any lawyer.
Fernandez’s counsel cited Republic Act No. 7438, or the Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or under Custodial Investigation saying “any person arrested detained or under custodial investigation shall at all times be assisted by counsel.”
Flores said she was not even aware of the press conference.
She has also petitioned for the transfer of Fernandez to the less crowded Pampanga provincial jail in San Fernando where a new building which has enough cells to accommodate inmates.
