Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Custodial Investigation
Section 12(1) , Article III of the 1987
Constitution embodies the mandatory
protection afforded to a person under
custodial investigation for the
commission of a crime and the
correlative duty of the State and its
agencies to enforce such mandate.
RATIONALE
To put the accused on equal footing with the
State..
Custodial investigation
involves any questioning initiated by law enforcement
officers
after a person has been taken into custody or
otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any
significant way.
It is only after the investigation ceases to be a general
inquiry into an unsolved crime and begins to focus on a
particular suspect, the suspect is taken into custody, and
the police carries out a process of interrogations that
lends itself to eliciting incriminating statements that the
rule begins to operate.
(People v. Marra, 236 SCRA 565)
Custodial Investigation
The Supreme Court prescribes the following steps after
informing the suspect of his rights:
1. The investigator should ask the suspect whether, after
being informed of the cause of the indictment against
him, he wants and is willing to give a statement of his
version;
2. In the affirmative, the suspect should next be asked if
he has a lawyer to assist him;
Custodial Investigation
3. If he answers he wanted a counsel but could not
afford to secure one, he should asked if he wanted
one to be appointed for him.
If the investigator fails to pursue these questions
before taking down the suspects statement, there
would be no effective waiver of his rights to remain
silent and to counsel. ( Gamboa v. Cruz, 162 SCRA
642)
Department of Justice
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
Bureau of ImmigrationLaw Enforcement Division [2] (BI-LED)
Department of Finance
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)
Collection Enforcement Division (CED)
Enforcement Service (ES)
Large Taxpayers Collection and Enforcement Division (LTCED)
MECHANICAL ACTS:
Paraffin test
DNA test
Examination of physical body
Fingerprinting
Being asked to step on a footprint to compare
foot size
NOT MECHANICAL:
Handwriting
Initials on marked money
Signing of inventory receipts in search warrant
(see People vs. Go)
Custodial Investigation
The right to counsel, (1) the right to an independent
and competent counsel of ones choice and (2) the
right to police or court appointed counsel, as the
case may be, where the accused is unable to retain
one.
This right attaches as soon as individual becomes the
focus and object of police interrogation.
Independent Counsel
Moreover, Art. III, 12(1) requires that counsel
assisting suspects in custodial interrogations be
competent and independent. Here, accusedappellant was assisted by Atty. De los Reyes,
who, though presumably competent, cannot be
considered an "independent counsel" as
contemplated by the law for the reason that he
was station commander of the WPD at the time
he assisted accused-appellant.
NOTA BENE:
The right to counsel attaches upon
investigation, that is, when the investigation
officer starts to ask question to elicit
information or confession or admission. In
case of waiver of rights, the same must be
done in writing and in the presence of
counsel.
PENALTIES
(a) Any arresting public officer or employee,
or any investigating officer, who fails to inform
any person arrested, detained or under
custodial investigation of his right to remain
silent and to have competent and
independent counsel preferably of his own
choice, shall suffer a fine of Six thousand
pesos (P6,000.00) or a penalty of
imprisonment of not less than eight (8) years
but not more than ten (10) years, or both. The
penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification
shall also be imposed upon the investigating
officer who has been previously convicted of a
similar offense. (Sec. 4 Republic Act No. 7438)
INQUEST PROCEEDINGS
WHAT IS INQUEST?
INQUEST is an informal and summary
investigation conducted by a public
prosecutor in criminal cases involving
persons arrested and detained without
the benefit of a warrant of arrest
issued by the court for the purpose of
determining whether or not said
persons should remain under custody
and correspondingly be charged in
court.
COVERAGE OF INQUEST
1. All offenses covered under the Revised
Penal Code and special laws, rules and
regulations; and
COVERAGE OF INQUEST
2. Where the respondent is a minor (below 18
years old), the inquest investigation shall cover
only offenses punishable by imprisonment of
not less than six (6) years and one (1) day,
provided that no inquest investigation shall be
conducted unless the child-respondent shall
have first undergone the requisite proceedings
before the Local Social Welfare Development
Officer pursuant to the Rules on Inquest with
Respect to Children in Conflict With the Law
(CICL).
1. When Commenced
The inquest proceedings shall be considered
commenced upon receipt by the inquest
prosecutor of the following documents:
a) the affidavit of arrest duly subscribed and
COMMENCEMENT OF THE
INQUEST PROCEEDINGS
Murder, Homicide and Parricide
Certified true/machine copy of the certificate
COMMENCEMENT OF THE
INQUEST PROCEEDINGS
Theft / Robbery/Violation of the Anti-piracy/
COMMENCEMENT OF THE
INQUEST PROCEEDINGS
Illegal Possession of Firearms, Ammunitions
and Explosives
Chemistry report duly signed by the forensic
chemist; and
Photograph of the explosives, if readily
available
Ballistic report, if readily available
COMMENCEMENT OF THE
INQUEST PROCEEDINGS
Violation of RA 9262
Marriage contract/certificate;
Affidavit/evidence of dating relationship, if
applicable; and
Barangay protection order (BPO), if any.
If he is confined in a hospital;
INQUEST
1. Starts when prosecutor receives the affidavit of
arrest, investigators report, and sworn statements
of complainant and witnesses. If possible, death
certificate and autopsy report should also be
submitted.
2. Inquest Prosecutor then determines legality of
warrantless arrest.
If lawful
Ask if detainee wants to avail of P.I.
If so, consequences must be adequately
explained to detainee in language or dialect
known to him/her.
detained person;
DEPOSIT OF RECOVERED
ARTICLES/PROPERTIES
Closing Statement
The Bill of Rights was not designed to be a
shelter for criminals, but to protect all
persons equally and must be applied without
fear or favor.
Closing Statement
To you law enforcement officers, these rules are
aimed to remind and guide you so that you may not
fall into some shortcuts for the sake of convenience
and expediency which could militate against our
achievement of the prevention, detection and
ultimate prosecution and conviction of criminal
elements.
THANK YOU