New CCTV footage from the Vhong Navarro case shows businessman Cedric Lee kissing Deniece Millet Cornejo.
The footage is not from the night of the incident that left Navarro beaten and saying he'd been blackmailed, though it has been included as evidence in the case.
Cornejo claimed that Navarro tried to rape her on January 22, but CCTV footage from that night backs up Navarro’s story that he was tied up and beaten by Lee and some of his cohorts.
The new CCTV footage is from Cornejo’s apartment building on January 23.
The video, shown in a GMA News evening newscast, shows that Lee and Cornejo “are not just friends,” according to lawyer Alma Mallonga, who is representing Navarro.
Lee kisses Cornejo on both cheeks in the video, which was obtained from the National Bureau of Investigation.
Another set of footage newly obtained is from January 17, and shows Navarro and Cornejo’s first meeting at the building.
The footage also includes an addition for January 22, showing Lee’s sister Bernice Lee and two men arriving at Cornejo’s apartment 30 minutes before Navarro came. Bernice leaves several minutes later but the men do not.
Navarro in his sworn statement given to the bureau said that two men were inside the apartment when he went inside.
The preliminary hearing on the case will not be postponed from its scheduled January 14 date, officials said, despite a request from Cornejo’s camp.
Lee’s spokesman Raymond Fortun said that the new CCTV footage won’t affect the cast, saying via Facebook that “Maybe it’s just me, but it looks like the girl didn’t even want to be kissed. Others will think otherwise.”
“For me, this is another non-issue because it does not prove or disprove the parties’ version of events that night.”
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Vhong Navarro Case: Cedric Lee is a Victim of Trial by Publicity, Lawyer Says
After Vhong Navarro Was Beaten, Deniece Cornejo Bought Laptop with Editing Software
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