The Sandiganbayan changes its mind

I do not fully understand what legal jujitsu the Sandiganbayan undertook when it overturned its earlier ruling barring Estrada from seeking medical treatment abroad. The justification for that bar in the earlier Sandiganbayan decision was that doctors in the Philippines could very well provide the treatment being sought by Estrada abroad.

Those same capable doctors of the earlier ruling are still capable and are willing to provide Estrada with the treatment he needs. So what were the new things considered by the Sandiganbayan to warrant a reversal of an earlier decision?

The Philippine Star reports that what prompted the Sandiganbayan to overrule it earlier decision was the supervening possibility of paralysis:

In its 13-page ruling, which overruled objections from prosecutors, the court said it could not be "so heartless as to deprive Estrada his choice of surgeon and hospital this time around considering his deteriorating health which will lead to paralysis."

It said the possibility of paralysis was a "supervening event" that convinced the anti-graft court to reverse its 2002 ruling.

Now that supervening possibility of paralysis was right there last year. The facts then were quite the same as the facts now. The Sandiganbayan simply overlooked what it now takes notice of to justify its revision of an earlier ruling.

Estrada is intransigent in his decision to consult his doctor at the Stanford Medical Center, and in the face off such intrasingence the Sandiganbayan was the first to blink, hence the new decision. I have not read the decion (no copy can be found in any of the government's websites), but judging from the news accounts everywhere I can hazard a guess it was not so much the supervening possibility as the wish of the administration to get rid of Estrada come election season that was the motivating factor in the decision. With Estrada conveniently out of the way, there would be greater room for political maneuver for the Arroyo Administration. Estrada can still help FPJ, alright, but long distance calls are expensive (but then again, not that Estrada would mind the bills).