Opinion ID: 1405642
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Motion in limine to exclude out-of-court statements of the Marcoses' alleged co-conspirators

Text: On January 29, 1996, Imelda filed a Trial Brief On Conspiracy, Vicarious Admissions[,] and Defendant's Assets in support, inter alia, of a motion in limine to exclude the out-of-court statements of the Marcoses' alleged co-conspirators and agents. She argued that the plaintiffs-appellees had proffered no evidence, other than the hearsay statements of the alleged co-conspirators and agents themselves, to connect the Marcoses to any conspiracy. The plaintiffs-appellees responded on February 28, 1996 with an Offer of Proof Re Conspiracy and Agency. Attached to this lengthy document as appendices were portions of the depositions of a number of witnesses, including Robert Curtis, Norman Dacus, John Doel, Olof Jonsson, and Michael O'Brien. The plaintiffs-appellees noted that Ferdinand had been seen in possession of enormous amounts of gold, as well as a golden buddha statue. On February 14, 1996, the circuit court conducted a hearing on Imelda's motion in limine. The court ruled that, as a threshold matter, the plaintiffs-appellees had established the existence of a conspiracy involving Ferdinand and numerous others, the object of which was to deprive Roxas of his discovered treasure, arrest him, and torture him. In this connection, the court ruled that the parties that were involved in the conspiracy are Romeo Amansec, Colonel Marcelino Barba, Marcelino Cubacub, Sergeant DeVera, Colonel Eduardo, Colonel Gonzalez, Anita Inga, Ferdinand Marcos, Judge Pio Marcos, Colonel Olivas, the Presidential Security Command, Joe Uehara, [13] Rosario Uy[,] and General Fabian Ver. That is as to the original conspiracy to obtain the property. There are some unidentified parties, but to the extent that they were testified about and to the extent that they made statements and appear to have been in contact with then President Marcos, those statements can also come in. The circuit court also found that there had been a separate conspiracy to launder and dispose of the discovered treasure, the members of which included Ferdinand and Imelda, as well as Domingo [sic] Clemente, Robert Curtis, Norman Dacus, Francisco DeGuzman, John Doel, Norman Kirst, Colonel Lachica, Pedro Laurel, ... Ferdinand Bong Bong Marcos, Jr., ... Victor Nituda, Michael O'Brien, the President of the Central Bank[,] and General Fabian Ver. Accordingly, the circuit court ruled that the out-of-court statements of these people, uttered in furtherance of the conspiracy, would be admissible under the co-conspirators exception to the hearsay rule pursuant to HRE Rule 803(a)(2).