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A Supreme Court resolution Tuesday said it will now allow state witnesses to submit written testimony to the lower court handling the case, so that they will only have to take the stand to answer questions by defense lawyers.
It will also instruct the lower court to pass verdicts on each defendant once all the evidence against him has been heard, instead of waiting for all the evidence against all the accused to be presented.
The Supreme Court said it will also assign a third "assisting judge" on top of two others appointed earlier this year, so that presiding judge Jocelyn Reyes can concentrate on hearing the evidence.
It said the third assisting judge will be instructed to handle a raft of motions, mainly filed by the defendants according to the lower court.
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State prosecutors are still presenting their witnesses in twice-weekly hearings on the case, with a third day each week devoted to hearing motions and petitions.
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