People v. Lugod, GR 136253, 21 February 2001

People v. Lugod, GR 136253, 21 February 2001 

FACTS:

• On September 15, 1997, at 10:30 p.m., the accused arrived at his house and joined the drinking session of his son. He noticed that the accused was wearing a black T-shirt and appeared to be drunk. Dela Torre claims that the accused left at around 11:45 p.m. ROMUALDO RAMOS testified that at around 8:30 on the morning of September 16, 1997, he was driving his tricycle towards the poblacion of Cavinti. While driving towards the poblacion, he noticed the accused coming out of the gate of Villa Anastacia. Upon seeing the accused, he stopped his tricycle thinking that the accused would board the same but the accused did not mind him. He noticed that the accused was wearing only a pair of white short pants with a red waistline and was not wearing a T-shirt or any slippers. The accused also appeared to be drunk. Thereafter, he proceeded to the poblacion terminal where he discovered that Nairube was missing. He also learned that the accused was the suspect behind her disappearance. Upon learning this, he told Ricardo Vida, the Chief of the barangay tanod who was searching for the victim, to look for her at Villa Anastacia because it was the place where he saw the accused come out from. Ramos further testified that the house of the victim is about five hundred (500) meters away from the place where he saw the accused but if one passes through the coconut plantation, it is only two hundred (200) meters away. FLORO ESGUERRA, the Vice-Mayor of Cavinti, testified that on September 19, 1997 at around 3:30 p.m., he attended the funeral of Nairube. After the funeral, he visited the accused in his cell.
• In the course of his conversation with the accused, the accused confessed to the commission of the offense. On October 8, 1998 the RTC rendered a decision finding the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of rape with homicide. In view of the imposition of the death penalty, the case is now before the Court on automatic review.

ISSUE:
Whether or not Lugod’s confession and subsequent act of pointing the location of the Nairube’s body may be used against him as evidence. 

RULING:
​ No. The records reveal that Lugod was not informed of his right to remain silent and to counsel, and that if he cannot afford to have counsel of his choice, he would be provided with one. Moreover, there is no evidence to indicate that he intended to waive these rights. Consequently, Lugod's act of confessing to SPO2 Gallardo that he raped and killed Nairube without the assistance of counsel cannot be used against him for having transgressed Lugod's rights under the Bill of Rights. In the same vein, Lugod's act in pointing out the location of the body of Nairube was also elicited in violation of the Lugod's right to remain silent. The same was an integral part of the- uncounselled confession and is considered a fruit of the poisonous tree. Even if we were to assume that Lugod was not yet under interrogation and thus not entitled to his constitutional rights at the time he was brought to the police station, Lugod's acts subsequent to his apprehension cannot be characterized as having been voluntarily made considering the peculiar circumstances surrounding his detention. His confession was elicited by SPO2 Gallardo who promised him that he would help him if he told the truth. Furthermore, when ugod allegedly pointed out the body of the victim, SPO2 Gallardo, the whole police force as well as nearly 100 of the townspeople of Cavinti escorted him there. Ricardo Vida stated that the townspeople were antagonistic towards Lugod and wanted to hurt him. The atmosphere from the time Lugod was apprehended and taken to the police station up until the time he was alleged to have pointed out the location of the body of the victim was highly intimidating and was not conducive to a spontaneous response. Amidst such a highly coercive atmosphere, Lugod's claim that he was beaten up and maltreated by the police officers raises a very serious doubt as to the voluntariness of his alleged confession. The Vice-Mayor, who testified that when he visited Lugod in the jail cell, he noticed that Lugod had bruises on his face, corroborated Lugod's assertion that he was maltreated. Considering that the confession of Lugod cannot be used against him, the only remaining evidence which was established by the prosecution is the fact that several persons testified having seen Lugod the night before the murder of Nairube and on several other occasions wearing the rubber slippers and black T-shirt found at the house of the victim and Villa Anastacia respectively as well as the testimony of Romualdo Ramos, the tricycle driver who stated that he saw Lugod in the early morning of 16 September 1997 leaving Villa Anastacia without a T-shirt and without slippers. These pieces of evidence are circumstantial in nature. The combination of the above-mentioned circumstances does not lead to the irrefutably logical conclusion that Lugod raped and murdered Nairube. At most, these circumstances, taken with the testimonies of the other prosecution witnesses, merely establish Lugod's whereabouts on that fateful evening and places Lugod at the scene of the crime and nothing more. Lugod was acquitted.