Appellate court rejects Vhong Navarro’s plea to stop filing of charges

The Court of Appeals has dismissed actor and TV personality Vhong Navarro’s appeal to stop the filing of accusations of rape and acts of lasciviousness against him in connection with two events involving model Deniece Milinette Cornejo.

Navarro’s application for reconsideration and for the issuing of a status quo ante order was denied by the appeal court in a seven-page decision that was published on September 20 but released to the media on Sunday.

“The instant motions for reconsideration and for the issuance of a status quo ante order are DENIED for lack of merit,” CA Associate Justice Florencio Mamauag, Jr. said.

Navarro questioned the complainant’s reliability, the veracity of the accusations, and the weight of the evidence in his application for reconsideration.

However, Mamauag said these matters are “best left to the determination of the trial court after a full-blown trial on the merits.”

The CA also rejected the request for the issuing of a status quo ante order, stating that Navarro’s situation does not qualify as one of the exclusions necessary to approve the request.

Navarro surrendered when arrest warrants were obtained, and is now being held at the National Bureau of Investigation.

Navarro is charged with rape and lewd conduct for allegedly abusing Cornejo on January 22, 2014, however afterwards, the model claimed there was a prior incident that occurred on January 14.

As a result of the CA granting Cornejo’s plea for certiorari and its decision to overturn and annul the Department of Justice (DOJ) decisions that had rejected her requests for review, the DOJ has been instructed to pursue charges of rape and acts of lasciviousness against Navarro.