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People vs. Bandula, 232 SCRA 566 (1994)
FACTS: Six (6) armed men barged into the compound of a Polo Coconut Plantation who were identified as Bandula, Dionanao, Ejan and Sedigo while the two others who wore masks were simply referred to as "Boy Tall" and "Boy Short." At gunpoint, the two (2) masked men held the security guard of the plantation, Antonio Salva, who was manning his post, disarmed him of his shotgun and tied his hands behind his back. They then went up to the house of Leoncio Pastrano, Chief of Security and General Foreman of the plantation, hog-tied him, and divested him of his driver's license, goggles, wristwatch and .38 caliber snubnose revolver. From there, the 6 armed men with Salva and Pastrano in tow proceeded to the house of Atty. Juanito Garay, Manager of the Polo Coconut Plantation. Dionanao, Ejan and Sedigo stayed downstairs while Bandula and the two masked men with Salva and Pastrano went up to the house of Atty. Garay. After forcing their way into the house, the masked men and Bandula ransacked the place and took with them money and other valuables. Thereafter, the hooded men who were bringing with them Atty. Garay locked Pastrano inside his house together with Salva. A few minutes later, Pastrano and Salva heard gunshots coming from the direction of the gate of the compound. After succeeding in untying themselves, Pastrano and Salva went to report the matter to the police. On their way, they found outside the gate the lifeless body of Atty. Garay, dead with 3 gunshot wounds. Dionanao was "picked-up for investigation" and interrogated by Cpl. Ephraim Valles inside the Police Station in Tanjay where he implicated accused Sedigo. The following day, he was brought to the Office of the Municipal Attorney of Tanjay, Atty. Ruben Zerna, where he supposedly executed his extrajudicial confession in the presence of the latter. Upon the suggestion of another investigator, Cpl. Valles took the Supplementary Sworn Statement of Dionanao, again in the presence of Atty. Zerna. In his Sworn Statement, Dionanao supposedly admitted that he was with Bandula when the latter, together with "Boy Short'' and "Boy Tall," shot Atty. Garay. He added that he was going to be killed if he did not join the group. He also said that Sedigo and Ejan were with them that evening. Then, in his Supplementary Sworn Statement, he implicated 3 more persons but they were not thereafter included in the Information. On the other hand, Bandula was arrested and brought to the Tanjay Police Station and interrogated there. He was investigated by Cpl. Borromeo, Cpl. Esparicia, Cpl. Ebarso, Pat. Moso and Pat. Baldejera. In that investigation, Bandula allegedly admitted that he together with 2 others shot Atty. Garay with a .38 cal. revolver. At that time, there was no counsel present "because that (investigation) was not yet in writing." Two weeks after his arrest, Bandula allegedly gave a sworn statement in the presence of Atty. Zerna admitting his participation in the killing of Atty. Garay. In that statement, Bandula narrated that after "Boy Short'' and "Boy Tall" shot Atty. Garay, he (Bandula) was ordered likewise to shoot the latter which he did. Bandula, Sedigo, Dionanao and Ejan were charged for robbery with homicide. After hearing 12 prosecution and 9 defense witnesses, the trial court rendered judgment finding Bandula guilty of the crime charged. However, his 3 co-accused were acquitted "for insufficiency of evidence." ISSUE: Whether or not the admissions obtained during custodial interrogations requires independent counsel present. HELD: Yes. Bandula and Dionanao were investigated immediately after their arrest, they had no counsel present. If at all, counsel came in only a day after the custodial investigation with respect to Dionanao, and two weeks later with respect to Bandula. And, the counsel who supposedly assisted both accused was Atty. Zerna, the Municipal Attorney of Tanjay. The Constitution mandates in Section 12, Art. III, that (1) Any person under investigation for the commission of an offense shall have the right to be informed of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel preferably of his own choice. If the person cannot afford the services of counsel, he must be provided with one. These rights cannot be waived except in writing and in the presence of counsel. The Constitution also requires that counsel be independent. Obviously, he cannot be a special counsel, public or private prosecutor, counsel of the police, or a municipal attorney whose interest is admittedly adverse to the accused. Granting that Atty. Zerna assisted Dionanao and Bandula when they executed their respective extrajudicial confessions, still their confessions are inadmissible in evidence considering that Atty. Zerna does not qualify as an independent counsel. As a legal officer of the municipality, he provides legal assistance and support to the mayor and the municipality in carrying out the delivery of basic services to the people, including the maintenance of peace and order. It is thus seriously doubted whether he can effectively undertake the defense of the accused without running into conflict of interests. He is no better than a fiscal or prosecutor who cannot represent the accused during custodial investigations.
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People vs. Sayaboc, GR 147201, 15 January 2004
FACTS: · On 2 December 1994, Galam was shot to death at the Rooftop Disco and Lodging House owned by him, which was located at Barangay Quezon, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya. · A waitress of the rooftop Diana Grace Sanchez Jaramillo and Tessie Pilar, the caretaker of the lodging house heard four gun bursts emanating from the ground floor of the building. When Jaramillo looked down, she saw Sayaboc shooting Galam, causing the latter to fall to the ground face up, with blood spurting out of his chest. Sayaboc forthwith ran out and disappeared into the darkness. · SPO4 Cagungao was called to the Provincial Command Headquarters in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, to take the statement of Sayaboc. · When he arrived at the headquarters he saw Sayaboc being interviewed by reporters inside the investigation room. He then brought Sayaboc to the inner part of the room. · Before taking the statement of Sayaboc, he advised the latter of his constitutional rights. Then Sayaboc told him that he wanted to have counsel of his own choice. But since Sayaboc could not name one, Cagungao asked the police officers to get a lawyer. · Half an hour later, the police officers brought Atty. Rodolfo Cornejo of the PAO, who then conferred with Sayaboc for a while. After Cagungao heard Sayaboc say, “okay,” he continued the investigation, during which Atty. Cornejo remained silent the entire time. · However, Cagungao would stop questioning Sayaboc whenever Atty. Cornejo would leave to go to the comfort room. That night Sayaboc executed an extrajudicial confession in Ilocano dialect. He therein confessed to killing Joseph Galam at the behest of Marlon Buenviaje for the sum of P100,000. · He likewise implicated Miguel Buenviaje and Patricio Escorpiso. The confession was also signed by Atty. Cornejo and attested to by one Fiscal Melvin Tiongson. · The accused filed for demurrer of evidence which was denied by the trial court. · Sayaboc denied having committed the crime and proffered the defense of alibi. He also flatly denied having met Atty. Cornejo or having been informed of his rights. · He testified to having been beaten by six or seven police officers in the investigating room, who then coerced him to confess to having killed Galam. · Apart from his testimony, he submitted a handwritten statement dated 20 March 1995 and an affidavit dated 10 April 1995 to support his claim of police brutality and retraction of his confession. · Trial court convicted Benjamin Sayaboc guilty of murder, with treachery as the qualifying circumstance and craft and price or reward as aggravating circumstances. Issue: Whether or not the extrajudicial confession of Sayaboc may be admitted in evidence against him. Held: No. The Court held that the extrajudicial confession of Sayaboc cannot be used in evidence in this case. Jurisprudence provides that extrajudicial confessions are presumed to be voluntary. The condition for this presumption, however, is that the prosecution is able to show that the constitutional requirements safeguarding an accused's rights during... custodial investigation have been strictly complied with, especially when the extrajudicial confession has been denounced. The rationale for this requirement is to allay any fear that the person being investigated would succumb to coercion while in the unfamiliar or... intimidating environment that is inherent in custodial investigations. Therefore, even if the confession may appear to have been given voluntarily since the confessant did not file charges against his alleged intimidators for maltreatment. The failure to properly inform a suspect of his rights during a custodial investigation renders the confession valueless and inadmissible. Apart from the absence of an express waiver of his rights, the confession contains the passing of information of the kind held to be in violation of the right to be informed under Section 12, Article III of the Constitution. In People vs. Jara, the Court explained: The stereotyped "advice" appearing in practically all extrajudicial confessions which are later repudiated has assumed the nature of a "legal form" or model. Police investigators either automatically type it together with the curt "Opo" as the answer or ask the... accused to sign it or even copy it in their handwriting. Its tired, punctilious, fixed, and artificially stately style does not create an impression of voluntariness or even understanding on the part of the accused. The showing of a spontaneous, free, and... unconstrained giving up of a right is missing. The right to be informed requires "the transmission of meaningful information rather than just the ceremonial and perfunctory recitation of an abstract constitutional principle". It should allow the suspect to consider the effects and consequences of... any waiver he might make of these rights. The Court likewise ruled that Sayaboc was not afforded his constitutional right to a competent counsel. The right to a competent and independent counsel means that the counsel should satisfy himself, during the conduct of the investigation, that the suspect understands the import and consequences of answering the questions propounded. The desired role of counsel in the process of custodial investigation is rendered meaningless if the lawyer merely gives perfunctory advice as opposed to a meaningful advocacy of the rights of the person undergoing questioning. If the advice given is so cursory... as to be useless, voluntariness is impaired. This is not to say that a counsel should try to prevent an accused from making a confession. Indeed, as an officer of the court, it is an attorney's duty to, first and foremost, seek the truth. However, counsel should be able, throughout the investigation, to explain... the nature of the questions by conferring with his client and halting the investigation should the need arise. The duty of a lawyer includes ensuring that the suspect under custodial investigation is aware that the right of an accused to remain silent may be invoked at any time. For these reasons, the extrajudicial confession of Sayaboc cannot be used in evidence against him. The Court held, however, that the prosecution has discharged its burden of proving his guilt for the crime of homicide. People vs. Piedad, GR 131923, 5 December 2002
FACTS: On 10 April 1996, Lactawan left her house at No. 2 Scout Bayoran, Barangay South Triangle, Quezon City, to follow Mateo, her husband, who had earlier gone. As she was walking by the gate of the company compound where they reside, she heard Piquero shouting for help because Mateo was being mauled by a group of men. She rushed out of the compound and saw her husband being beaten up by Niel Piedad, Richard Palma, Lito Garcia and five others. She tried to pacify the aggressors, but was beaten herself. Luz embraced Mateo in an effort to protect him. It was then that Niel picked up a large stone, measuring about a foot and a half, and struck Mateo’s head with it. Then, Lito approached Mateo’s side and stabbed him at the back, while Richard hit Mateo in the face. Mateo was rushed to the East Avenue Medical Center where he later died because of the injuries he sustained. Piedad , Garcia and Palma were charged with Murder. Upon arraignment, all the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge. Trial ensued thereafter. The trial court rendered a decision, finding Piedad and Garcia guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder with no modifying circumstances present, and sentenced each of them to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua pursuant to Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code. Piedad and Garcia were likewise held solidarily liable to indemnify the heirs of the victim Lactawan in the sum of P50,000.00. Richard Palma was acquitted on the ground of reasonable doubt. Piedad and Garcia appealed. ISSUE: Whether or not the way that Piedad was identified by prosecution witnesses was suggestive and fatally flawed. Held: No. The claim by the defense that Piedad’s pre-trial identification was suggestive due to the absence of a police lineup is more theoretical than real. It must be pointed out that even before the incident, Luz Lactawan knew the accused. Fidel, on the other hand, knew Piedad because they played basketball together. Hence, the witnesses were not identifying persons whom they were unfamiliar with, where arguably, improper suggestion may set in. On the contrary, when the accused were presented before the witnesses, they were simply asked to confirm whether they were the ones responsible for the crime perpetrated. The witnesses did not incriminate the accused simply because they were the only ones presented by the police, rather, the witnesses were certain they recognized the perpetrators of the crime. Besides, there is no law which requires a police lineup before a suspect can be identified as the culprit of a crime. What is important is that the prosecution witnesses positively identify the persons charged as the malefactors. In this regard, the Court finds no reason to doubt the veracity of Luz’s and Fidel’s testimony. The records show that Luz and Fidel positively, categorically and unhesitatingly identified Piedad as the one who struck Mateo on the head with a stone, and Garcia as the one who stabbed Mateo on the back, thereby inflicting traumatic head injuries and a stab wound which eventually led to Mateo’s death. Indeed, if family members who have witnessed the killing of a loved one usually strive to remember the faces of the assailants, the Court sees no reason how a wife, who witnessed the violence inflicted upon her husband and who eventually died by reason thereof, could have done any less. It must be stressed that Luz was right beside her husband when the concrete stone was struck on his head, hence, Luz could not have mistaken the identity of the person responsible for the attack. She was only a foot away from Piedad before the latter hit Mateo on the head. Garcia on the other hand was identified by both Luz and Fidel as the one who was shirtless at the time of the incident. There was light from a bulb 5 meters away from the scene of the crime. Experience dictates that precisely because of the unusual acts of violence committed right before their eyes, eyewitnesses can remember with a high degree of reliability the identity of the criminals at any given time. Hence, the proximity and attention afforded the witnesses, coupled with the relative illumination of the surrounding area, bolsters the credibility of identification of Piedad, et. al. While Piedad and Garcia may have been suspects, they were certainly not interrogated by the police authorities, much less forced to confess to the crime imputed against them. Piedad and Garcia were not under custodial investigation. In fact, Piedad averred during cross-examination that the police never allowed them to say anything at the police station on the day they voluntarily presented themselves to the authorities. FACTS:
- Accused Anthony Escordial, the herein accused appellant, was charged guilty of robbery with rape and sentencing him to death and to pay private complainant Michelle Darunday the amounts of Php 3,650 representing the amount taken by him Php50k as moral damages, Php30k as exemplary damages, and the costs. - It was testified by eight witnesses namely Jason Joniega, Mark Esmeralda, Erma Blanca,4 Dr. Joy Ann Jocson, PO3 Nicolas Tancinco, Leo Asan, Ma. Teresa Gellaver, and Michelle Darunday that: - Petitioners (Michelle Darunday, Erma Blanca and Ma. Teresa Gallaver) were all living on the ground floor of a boarding house. On the night of the crime, Jason Joniega, Mark Esmeralda and Mark Lucena were playing inside a jeepney parked in front of the boarding house. While playing, a man sitting inside the jeepney told the boys to go home and that man was later identified as the accused. - While the petitioners were sleeping, Erma was awakened by the presence of a man who had his head covered with a t-shirt to prevent identification and carried a knife about four inches long; warned her not to shout; asked her money and was able to get P500 from her. Then the accused turned to Michelle and Teresa which he got P3,100 from Michelle only. - Thereafter, the accused told them to blindfold one another and then proceed to have carnal knowledge with Michelle. On the other hand, Erma claimed that she was able to see the man’s face. After he had finished raping Michelle, the man sat on the bed and talked to the three women. He then raped Michelle again and threatened her that it would be much worse if he’d call his companions to rape her. Later, he left but warned them not to report the matter to anyone or he would kill them. - Mark Esmeralda saw from his bedroom window a man wearing denim shorts coming out of the boarding house and saw that man jumped over the fence and later told his parents about what he had seen and told them to check what happened. - After Michelle Erma and Teresa were able to find help, Michelle was taken to the police headquarters and referred to the Women’s Desk to report the rape. - PO3 Tancinco was one of those who responded to the crime. A report was made in the police station. Subsequent searches, through the descriptions of the petitioners, the children playing in the jeep in front of the boarding house, and others led to the pinpointing of accused-appellant .Accused was playing in basketball when the police “invited” him to the Pontevedra police station for questioning. At the station Michelle saw him and she identified him as his alleged robber and rapist. He was also brought to the Bacolod police station so that the other witnesses could identify him. They picked him out of four in the line-up. - In defense, the accused-appellant claimed that he went home to Pontevedra, wherein he was able to see and communicate with the witnesses for the defense namely Aaron Lavilla, Elias Sombito. While the accused-appellant was in that place, PO2 Rodolfo Gemarino and Ricardo Villaspen led by PO3 Tancinco, witnesses, went to Ponteverde Police asking for help to locate him, however, they were not able to show a warrant for accused-appellant’s arrest. Then, they found the accused-appellant at the basketball court watching a game. After informing him that he was a suspect in a robbery case, the group invited the accused-appellant to go with them to the police headquarters. The accused-appellant however testified that the PO3 Tancinco and his companions beat and hit him with the butt of a shotgun to admit liability for the crime and even subjected to torture. - With the testimonies of the witnesses and evidence, the trial court rendered a decision finding the accused-appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crime of Robbery with Rape under Art 294 of the RPC. ISSUE: Whether or not the accused-appellant can invoke Art III, Sec 12 of the Constitution RULING: No. Accused-appellant invokes Art. III, §12(1) of the Constitution which provides that "any person under investigation for the commission of an offense shall have the right to be informed of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel preferably of his own choice. If the person cannot afford the services of counsel, he must be provided with one. These rights cannot be waived except in writing and in the presence of counsel." He contends that he was subjected to custodial interrogation without being informed of his right to remain silent and to have independent counsel preferably of his choice. Hence, he contends, the trial court erred in not excluding evidence obtained from him during such interrogation for violation of accused-appellant's rights under this provision. While it cannot be denied that accused-appellant was deprived of his right to be informed of his rights to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel, he has not shown that, as a result of his custodial interrogation, the police obtained any statement from him – whether inculpatory or exculpatory - which was used in evidence against him. The records do not show that he had given one or that, in finding him guilty, the trial court relied on such statement. In fact, accused-appellant testified that at no point, even when subjected to physical torture, did he ever admit committing the crime with which he was charged. In other words, no uncounseled statement was obtained from the accused-appellant which should have been excluded as evidence against him. Gamboa vs. Cruz, 162 SCRA 642
Facts: Petitioner was arrested for vagrancy without a warrant. During a line-up of 5 detainees including petitioner, he was identified by a complainant to be a companion in a robbery, thereafter he was charged. Petitioner filed a Motion to Acquit on the ground that the conduct of the line-up, without notice and in the absence of his counsel violated his constitutional rights to counsel and to due process. The court denied said motion. Hearing was set, hence the petition. Issue: Whether or Not petitioner’s right to counsel and due process violated. Held: No. The police line-up was not part of the custodial inquest, hence, petitioner was not yet entitled, at such stage, to counsel. He had not been held yet to answer for a criminal offense. The moment there is a move or even an urge of said investigators to elicit admissions or confessions or even plain information which may appear innocent or innocuous at the time, from said suspect, he should then and there be assisted by counsel, unless he waives the right, but the waiver shall be made in writing and in the presence of counsel. On the right to due process, petitioner was not, in any way, deprived of this substantive and constitutional right, as he was duly represented by a counsel. He was accorded all the opportunities to be heard and to present evidence to substantiate his defense; only that he chose not to, and instead opted to file a Motion to Acquit after the prosecution had rested its case. What due process abhors is the absolute lack of opportunity to be heard. |
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