Author Topic: CA Acquits Drug Suspect from Sagbayan, Bohol  (Read 2745 times)

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CA Acquits Drug Suspect from Sagbayan, Bohol
« on: December 14, 2009, 04:46:49 PM »
Here is a lesson to be learned by law enforcers who breach protocol in conducting raid and arresting crime suspects and offenders.

The Court of Appeals (CA) reversed a Regional Trial Court (RTC) ruling which found a resident of Sagbayan guilty of illegal drug possession charges.

The appellate court ordered the immediate release of one Reynaldo Lapuja y Mesina from imprisonment after anti-drug policemen failed to observe lawful procedures in arresting him.

State prosecutors themselves recommended to the CA the acquittal of Lapuja due to defects in the conduct of the raid and the service of a search warrant by operatives of the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO), the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Sagbayan PNP.

Citing Section 8, Rule 126 of the Rules of Court, the CA said searches must be done in the presence of the lawful occupants of the house and it is only in the absence of the former that two witnesses of sufficient age and discretion residing in the same locality may be called to witness the search.

Based on the testimonies of the policemen and a barangay tanod who took part in the raid, the CA said the appellant and his parents were not allowed to actually witness the search of police operatives since they were all herded in the sala of the house as the raiding team scoured his room (bedroom) and the premises outside his bedroom window.

The presence of a barangay tanod during the search, according to the CA, will not cure the irregularities done by the raiding team.

According to the appellate court, since the appellant and his parents did not witness the actual search of the room and the premises near the room’s window, his eventual arrest provides no proof of the regularity and propriety of the search in question.

The CA acknowledged that credence should be given to testimonies of prosecution witnesses who are police officers and presumed to have performed their duties in a regular manner in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

However, the ruling said that an accused cannot be convicted based on his presumption especially when pitted against ones’ presumption of innocence.

According to Atty. Alexander Lim, the counsel of appellant Lapuja, law enforcers should act with deliberate care and within the parameters set by the Constitution in its efforts to fight the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

Atty. Lim said that law enforcers who conduct raids must also bear in mind the observance of the sanctity of the home.

He added that many suspects have been arrested and convicted of drug possession due to planted evidence.

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