Preliminary Investigation After fishing as much evidence as possible, on November 20, 1896, the preliminary investigation on Rizal began. During the five-day investigation, Rizal was informed of the charges against him before Judge Advocate Colonel Francisco Olive. He was put under interrogation without the benefit of knowing who testified against him. Presented before him were two kinds of evidences – documentary and testimonial. There were a total of fifteen exhibits for the documentary evidence. Testimonial evidences, on the other hand, were comprised of oral proofs provided by Martin Constantino, Aguedo del Rosario, Jose Reyes, Moises Salvador, Jose Dizon, Domingo Franco, Deodato Arellano, Pio Valenzuela, Antonio Salazar, Francisco Quison, and Timoteo Paez. These evidences were endorsed by Colonel Olive to Governor Ramon Blanco who designated Captain Rafael Dominguez as the Judge Advocate assigned with the task of deciding what corresponding action should be done. Dominguez, after a brief review, transmitted the records to Don Nicolas de la Peña, the Judge Advocate General, for an opinion. Peña's recommendations were as follows:
Charges against Rizal On the 11th of December 1896, in the presence of his Spanish counsel, charges against Rizal were read. When asked regarding his sentiments or reaction on the charges, Rizal replied that:
Rizal's trial Accustomed to share the merry season with family, friends and relatives, the 1896 Christmas was indeed, Rizal's saddest. Confined in a dark, gloomy cell, Rizal was in despair and had no idea of what his fate may be. Under this delusion, he wrote a letter to Lt. Taviel de Andrade requesting the latter to visit him before his trial for there was a very important matter they need to discuss. Likewise, Rizal greeted the lieutenant a joyous Christmas. The next day, December 26, about 8 o'clock in the morning, the court-martial of Rizal commenced. The hearing was actually a kind of moro-moro – a planned trial wherein Rizal, before hearing his verdict, had already been prejudged. Unlike other accused, Rizal had not been allowed to know the people who witnessed against him. The trial took place at Cuartel de España, a military building, with a court composed of seven military officers headed by Lt. Col. Jose Togores Arjona. Present at the courtroom were Jose Rizal, the six other officers in uniform (Capt. Ricardo Muñoz Arias, Capt. Manuel Reguera, Capt. Santiago Izquierdo Osorio, Capt. Braulio Rodriguez Nuñez, Capt. Manuel Diaz Escribano, and Capt. Fernando Perez Rodriguez), Lt. Taviel de Andrade, Judge Advocate Capt. Rafael Dominguez, Lt. Enrique de Alcocer (prosecuting attorney) and a number of spectators, including Josephine Bracken. After Judge Advocate Dominguez opened the trial, it was followed by Atty. Alcocer's reiteration of the charges against Rizal, urging the court that the latter be punished with death. Accordingly, the three crimes accused to him were rebellion, sedition and illegal association – the penalty for the first two being life imprisonment to death, while the last, correctional imprisonment and a charge of 325 to 3,250 pesetas. Lt. Taviel de Andrade, on the other hand, later took the floor reading his speech in defense of Rizal. To supplement this, Rizal read his own defense which he wrote in his cell in Fort Santiago. According to Rizal, there are twelve points to prove his innocence:
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