Philippines Law on Arrest and Search and Seizure PDF

CHR: Dignity of all VISION: A just and humane Philippine society of persons MISSION: As conscience of government and the people, we seek truth in human rights equal in opportunity, living a life of dignity, and issues. As beacon of truth, we make people aware of the...

CHR: Dignity of all VISION: A just and humane Philippine society of persons MISSION: As conscience of government and the people, we seek truth in human rights equal in opportunity, living a life of dignity, and issues. As beacon of truth, we make people aware of their rights, and guide government and society towards actions that respect the rights of all, forever vigilant against abuses and oppression. particularly those who cannot defend themselves—the disadvantaged, marginalized, and vulnerable. ARREST, SEARCH AND SEIZURE MARIEROSE P. ALVERO-JOAQUIN Attorney V CHR- Regional Office VIII CHR: Dignity of all ARREST is the taking of a person into custody in order that he may be bound to answer for the commission of an offense. (Sec. 1, Rule 113, Rules of Court) CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST Section 2, Article III, 1987 Constitution Section 2. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable, and no search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. Section 3. xxx. Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding. Implication: NO PERSON MAY BE ARRESTED EXCEPT ON A WARRANT OF ARREST ISSUED BY A JUDGE. CHR: Dignity of all  LAW ON ARREST CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLATION: ✔ Criminal liability, e.g. unlawful arrest, arbitrary detention; ✔ Administrative liability Exclusionary rule Second par., Section 3, Article III, 1987 Constitution Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding. CHR: Dignity of all  Arrest, how made (Sec. 2, Rule 113) o An arrest is made by an actual restraint of a person to be arrested, or by his submission to the custody of the person making the arrest. o No violence or unnecessary force shall be used in making an arrest. The person arrested shall not be subject to a greater restraint than is necessary for his detention. CHR: Dignity of all  The officer executing the warrant to arrest the accused should deliver him to the nearest station or jail without unnecessary delay. The warrant of arrest should be executed within ten (10) days from receipt. Within ten (10) days after the expiration of such period, the head of the office to which it was delivered shall make a report to the judge who issued the warrant whether or not it was served and the reason why in case it was not served. A warrant of arrest remains valid until arrest is effected or the warrant lifted. CHR: Dignity of all PROBLEM Alberto was arrested for theft by the Police Officers by virtue of a Warrant issued by the Judge. But the Police Officers was unable to show the warrant at the time of the arrest. Alberto contended that the arrest was not valid since the police officer failed to show the warrant of arrest. Is Alberto’s contention correct? A. YES B. NO C. IT DEPENDS CHR: Dignity of all NO. When making an arrest by virtue of a warrant, the officer shall inform the person to be arrested of the cause of the arrest and of the fact that a warrant has been issued for his arrest, except when he flees or forcibly resists before the officer has opportunity to so inform him, or when the giving of such information will imperil the arrest. The officer need not have the warrant in his possession at the time of the arrest but after the arrest, if the person arrested so requires, the warrant shall be shown to him as soon as practicable. (Section 7, Rule 113) CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST EXCEPTION TO THE RULE? CITIZEN’S ARREST LEGAL BASIS: SECTION 5 of Rule 113 of the Rules of Court CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST Section 5. Arrest without warrant; when lawful. — A peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a person: (a) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense; (b) When an offense has just been committed, and he has probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances that the person to be arrested has committed it; and (c) When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or is temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to another. CHR: Dignity of all  LAW ON ARREST When CITIZEN’S ARREST allowed: 1. When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense; 1.Commission of a crime; a. In flagrante delicto or “caught in the act” arrests; 2.Violent insanity; 3.Ailment requiring compulsory confinement in a hospital (Article 124, RPC) b. Valid grounds to arrest and detain a person 1. Commission of a crime; 2. Violent insanity; 3. Ailment requiring compulsory confinement in a hospital (Article 124, RPC) CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST c. Requisites: 1. Commission of an overt act constitutive of a criminal offense. Examples: a. Removing a house’s window grills in ILLEGAL TRESPASS TO DWELLING; b. Punching a person in PHYSICAL INJURIES; c. Aiming a gun at another in DISCHARGE OF FIREARM; d. Slapping a person in the face in SLANDER BY DEED CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST Problem: While conducting regular roving around the vicinity of his barangay as appointed barangay tanod, ALDEN happened to chance upon an unknown individual walking round and about in a dark alley at 1 o’clock in the morning. Can ALDEN arrest the unknown individual under “in flagrante delicto”? A. YES B. NO C. IT DEPENDS CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST Answer: NO. While the individual was performing an overt act, i.e. walking round and about in a dark alley, when Alden chanced upon him, the said act is not constitutive of any offense. CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST 2. The overt act constituting an offense is committed IN THE PRESENCE OF THE PERSON MAKING THE ARREST CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST 2. When an offense has just been committed, and he has probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances that the person to be arrested has committed it. Requisites: 1. Immediacy between the time of commission of the offense and the time of arrest. QUERY: When is an offense deemed to have JUST BEEN COMMITTED? a. An interval of ONE DAY between the time of commission and the time of arrest is NOT JUSTIFIED under the second exception. (People v. Del Rosario) b. An interval of THREE HOURS can still be justified under the second exception (People v. Gerente) CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST b. Person making the arrest has personal knowledge of FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE COMMISSION OF AN OFFENSE, not personal knowledge of the commission itself. Example: In a stabbing incident, seeing the wounded sprawled on the ground and a person fleeing while holding a knife with bloodied clothes are enough circumstances to arrest the fleeing person although he did not see the latter stab the former. CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST PROBLEM: Responding to distress calls coming from concerned neighbors, Cardo, barangay tanod of Brgy. XYZ, went to the house of Mr. Sy. Upon arrival, Cardo saw Mr. Sy sprawled on the ground with blood oozing from his wounds at his back. Asked by Cardo on what happened, Fabio, Mr. Sy’s neighbor, answered that it was Elias who stabbed Mr. Sy. Question Can Cardo, as barangay tanod and on the basis of the information given by Fabio, pursue and arrest Elias? A. YES B. NO C. IT DEPENDS CHR: Dignity of all Answer: NO. Information given by an alleged witness to the commission of the offense is not “personal knowledge of facts and circumstances” as would justify a valid warrantless arrest. (People v. Mendez, et al., G.R. No. 147671, November 21, 2002) CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST 3. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to another. CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST AFTER EFFECTING CITIZEN’S ARREST If a person is arrested without a warrant, he/she will be immediately brought to the proper police station and kept there for not more than 12 hours for crimes or offenses punishable by light penalties; 18 hours for crimes or offenses punishable by correctional penalties; and 36 hours for crimes or offenses punishable by capital penalties. He/she must undergo inquest proceedings in accordance with 2024 DOJ-NPS Rules. CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST AFTER EFFECTING CITIZEN’S ARREST The arrested person shall not be subjected to torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate the free will. The arrested person should not be brought to secret detention places, solitary confinement (incommunicado) or other forms of detention. CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST AFTER EFFECTING CITIZEN’S ARREST If you have been arrested without a warrant and you waive your right under the provisions, of Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code the arresting officer shall ensure that you sign a waiver of detention in the presence of the counsel of your choice. If you waive your right against self incrimination and opt to give your statement, the arresting officer (police) shall ensure that the waiver be made in writing and signed by you in the presence of a counsel of your own choice or a competent and independent counsel provided by the government. CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON ARREST AFTER EFFECTING CITIZEN’S ARREST Immediately after your arrest, you should be subjected to a physical examination by a medico-legal officer or, in the absence of such medico-legal officer, by any government physician in the area. Prior to your release or any change of custody, you will also be physically examined. CHR: Dignity of all JURISPRUDENCE 1. The arrest must be made immediately after the commission of the crime, otherwise warrantless arrest cannot be justified under this section. In one case, it was held that where the arrest of the accused without warrant was effected one day after the killing of the victim and only on the basis of information obtained by the policemen from unnamed sources, it was unlawful. (People vs Cendana,190 SCRA 538; People vs Monda, Jr., 228 SCRA 115) 2. Police officers have probable cause to believed based on personal knowledge of the actual commission of the crime when it had earlier conducted surveillance activities of the accused. (People vs Bati, 189 SCRA 97; People vs Sucro, 195 SCRA 388) 3. A warrantless arrest effected three months after the commission of the crime is unconstitutional and illegal, there must be compliance with the element of immediacy between the time of the offense and the time of the arrest. People vs Salvatierra, 276 SCRA 55) CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON SEARCHES AND SEIZURES CHR: Dignity of all Section 2, Article III, 1987 Constitution Section 2. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable, and no search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. Section 3. xxx. Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding. CHR: Dignity of all Search Warrant is an order in writing issued in the name of the People of the Philippines, signed by a judge and directed to a peace officer, commanding him to search for personal property described therein and bring it before the court. (Sec. 1, Rule 126) CHR: Dignity of all An application for search warrant shall be filed with the following: a) Any court within whose territorial jurisdiction a crime was committed. b) For compelling reasons stated in the application, any court within the judicial region where the crime was committed if the place of the commission of the crime is known, or any court within the judicial region where the warrant shall be enforced. CHR: Dignity of all  Personal property to be seized (a) Subject of the offense; (b) Stolen or embezzled and other proceeds, or fruits of the offense; or (c) Used or intended to be used as the means of committing an offense. (Sec. 3, Rule 126) CHR: Dignity of all Execution of the Search Warrant ❑ The officer, if refused admittance to the place of directed search after giving notice of his purpose and authority, may break open any outer or inner door or window of a house or any part of a house or anything therein to execute the warrant or liberate himself or any person lawfully aiding him when unlawfully detained therein. (Sec. 7, Rule 126) ❑ No search of a house, room, or any other premise shall be made except in the presence of the lawful occupant thereof or any member of his family or in the absence of the latter, two witnesses of sufficient age and discretion residing in the same locality. (Sec. 8, Rule 126) CHR: Dignity of all ❑ The warrant must direct that it be served in the day time, unless the affidavit asserts that the property is on the person or in the place ordered to be searched, in which case a direction may be inserted that it be served at any time of the day or night. (Sec. 9, Rule 126) ❑ A search warrant shall be valid for ten (10) days from its date. Thereafter it shall be void. (Sec. 10, Rule 126) CHR: Dignity of all ❑ The police officer who confiscates property under the warrant shall issue a detailed receipt of property seized to the lawful occupant of the premises, or in the absence of such occupant, shall, in the presence of at least two (2) witnesses of sufficient age and discretion residing in the same locality, leave a receipt in the place in which he found the seized property and a duplicate copy thereof with any barangay official having jurisdiction over the place searched. CHR: Dignity of all ❑ The police officer must forthwith deliver the property seized to the judge who issued the warrant, together with an inventory thereof duly verified under oath. CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON SEARCHES AND SEIZURES EXCEPTIONS: 1. Search incident to lawful arrest (Section 13, Rule 128, Rules of Court) A person lawfully arrested may be searched for dangerous weapons or anything which may have been used or constitute proof in the commission of an offense without a search warrant. 2. Seizure of evidence in plain view (plain view doctrine); 3. Search of a moving vehicle 4. Consented warrantless search 5. “Stop and Frisk” CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON SEARCHES AND SEIZURES SEARCH INCIDENT TO LAWFUL ARREST ▪Rationale? The frisk and search is a precautionary measure of arresting officers to protect themselves, for the person who is about to be arrested may be armed and may attack them unless he is first disarmed ▪The arrest must precede the search, not the other way around; ▪The arrest preceding the search must be LAWFUL. CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON SEARCHES AND SEIZURES The PLAIN VIEW DOCTRINE Requisites: ❖ a prior valid intrusion based on the valid warrantless arrest in which the police are legally present in the pursuit of their official duties; ❖ the evidence was inadvertently discovered by the police who had the right to be where they are; ❖ the evidence must be immediately apparent; and ❖ "plain view" justified mere seizure of evidence without further search. CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON SEARCHES AND SEIZURES SEARCH OF A MOVING VEHICLE (check-point searches) ▪Rationale? The mobility of motor vehicles makes it possible for the vehicle to be searched to move out of the locality or jurisdiction in which the warrant must be sought. ▪Kinds of check-point searches Ocular search Extensive search ▪Initially, only ocular search is allowed. Extensive search is allowed only when, from the ocular search made, there is probable cause to conduct a more probing search CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON SEARCHES AND SEIZURES CONSENTED WARRANTLESS SEARCH Whether consent to the search was in fact voluntary is a question of fact to be determined from the totality of all the circumstances. Relevant to this determination are the following characteristics of the person giving consent and the environment in which consent is given: (1) the age of the defendant; (2) whether the defendant was in a public or a secluded location; (3) whether the defendant objected to the search or passively looked on; (4) the education and intelligence of the defendant; (5) the presence of coercive police procedures; (6) the defendant’s belief that no incriminating evidence would be found; (7) the nature of the police questioning; (8) the environment in which the questioning took place; and (9) the possibly vulnerable subjective state of the person consenting.. (continued) CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON SEARCHES AND SEIZURES CONSENTED WARRANTLESS SEARCH It is the State that has the burden of proving, by clear and positive testimony, that the necessary consent was obtained, and was freely and voluntarily given. In this case, all that was alleged was that petitioner was alone at the police station at three in the morning, accompanied by several police officers. These circumstances weigh heavily against a finding of valid consent to a warrantless search. (Rodel Luz v. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 197788, Feb. 29, 2012) CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON SEARCHES AND SEIZURES “STOP AND FRISK” Also called the “Terry search” as the doctrine was taken from the landmark case of Terry v. Ohio (392 U.S. 1) the vernacular designation of the right of a police officer to stop a citizen on the street, interrogate him, and pat him for weapon(s); the interest of effective crime prevention and detection allows a police officer to approach a person, in appropriate circumstances and manner, for purposes of investigating possible criminal behavior even though there is insufficient probable cause to make an actual arrest CHR: Dignity of all LAW ON SEARCHES AND SEIZURES “STOP AND FRISK” (W)here a police officer observes an unusual conduct which leads him reasonably to conclude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be afoot and that the persons with whom he is dealing may be armed and presently dangerous, where in the course of investigating this behavior he identified himself as a policeman and makes reasonable inquiries, and where nothing in the initial stages of the encounter serves to dispel his reasonable fear for his own or others' safety, he is entitled for the protection of himself and others in the area to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of such persons in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to assault him. CHR: Dignity of all JURISPRUDENCE ❑ legality of a search warrant can be contested only by the party whose rights have been impaired. An objection to an unlawful search and seizure is purely personal and cannot be availed of by third parties (Stonehill vs. Diokno, 20 SCRA 383). ❑ the right to immunity against unreasonable search and seizures also applies to corporations. Bache Co. (Phil.) vs. Ruiz, 37 SCRA 823, ❑ illegality of a search warrant does not call for the return of the thing seized which are prohibited (Mata vs. Bayona, 128 SCRA 389) CHR: Dignity of all  A LAST NOTE “The constitutional proscription against unlawful searches and seizures therefore applies as a restraint directed only against the government and its agencies tasked with the enforcement of the law. Thus, it could only be invoked against the State to whom the restraint against arbitrary and unreasonable exercise of power is imposed. CHR: Dignity of all  A LAST NOTE “If the search is made upon the request of law enforcers, a warrant must generally be first secured if it is to pass the test of constitutionality. However, if the search is made at the behest or initiative of the proprietor of a private establishment for its own and private purposes, as in the case at bar, and without the intervention of police authorities, the right against unreasonable search and seizure cannot be invoked for only the act of private individual, not the law enforcers, is involved. In sum, the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures cannot be extended to acts committed by private individuals so as to bring it within the ambit of alleged unlawful intrusion by the government.” (People of the Philippines v. MARTI, G.R. 81561, January 18, 1991) CHR: Dignity of all IMPLICATIONS: ▪ Intrusions made by private individuals are not governed by the Bill of Rights ▪ Thus, all consequences relative to its violations are not squarely applicable. No liability for arbitrary detention or violation of domicile; No administrative liability MOST IMPORTANTLY, the exclusionary rule DOES NOT APPLY. (People v. Marti) CHR: Dignity of all  Thank you! Contact us: Commission on Human Rights Regional Office VIII Brgy. 92 Apitong Tacloban City 6500 Hotlines: Globe – 0917 187 7243 Smar- 0919 000 3975 Email: [email protected] CHR: Dignity of all See you online! http://chr.gov.ph facebook.com/chrgovph CHR Tacloban @chrgovph CHR: Dignity of all  CHR REGIONAL OFFICES REGION II No. 05 Pabbablo St., Regional Government Center Carig Sur, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan | (078) 304 2047 REGION I Ground Flr., Ed Fabro Bldg., Pagdalangan, San Fernando City, La Union | (072) 607 8706 CAR 3rd Floor SSS Baguio Branch Bldg., Harrison Road 2600 Baguio City | (074) 619 9089 REGION III Government Center, Sacop, San Fernando City, Pampanga | (045) 961 4830 REGION IV 2nd Flr., Mary Grace Building, Colago Ave., cor. M.L. 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