CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION ( 2018)
and is singled out as a suspect in the commission of a crime under
Section 12, paragraphs 1 and 3, Article III (Bill of Rights) of the 1987 Constitution
mandate that:
SEC. 12. (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.
(2) No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate
the free will shall be used against him. Secret detention places, solitary,
incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention are prohibited.
(3) Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this or Section 17 hereof
shall be inadmissible in evidence against him.
(4) The law shall provide for penal and civil sanctions for violations of this section as
well as compensation to and rehabilita
The "investigation" in Section 12, paragraph 1, Article III of the 1987 Constitution
pertains to "custodial investigation."
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.
"custodial investigation" shall include the practice of issuing an "invitation" to a
person who is investigated in connection with an offense he is suspected to have
committed, without prejudice to the liability of the "inviting" officer for any
violation of law.
WHEN COMMENCES:
- Custodial investigation commences when a person is taken into custody
investigation and the police officers begin to ask questions on the
suspect's participation therein and which tend to elicit an admission.
- 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.
- When the process has shifted from investigatory to accusatory; or from
the time that adversary judicial proceedings are taken against him.
WHEN CUSTODIAL RIGHTS BECOME RELEVANT:
-Any allegation of violation of rights during custodial investigation is relevant and
material only to cases in which an extrajudicial admission or confession extracted
from the accused becomes the basis of their conviction ( PP vs Lugnasin, 2-24-16)
- What the Constitution bars is the compulsory disclosure of incriminating facts or
confessions. The rights under Section 12 are guaranteed to preclude the slightest use
of coercion by the state as would lead the accused to admit something false, not to
prevent him from freely and voluntarily telling the truth.
THE RIGHT TO BE APPRISED OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS:
The right to be informed of one's constitutional rights during custodial investigation
refers to an effective communication between the investigating officer and the
suspected individual, with the purpose of making the latter understand these rights.
Understanding would mean that the information transmitted was effectively
received and comprehended. Hence, the Constitution does not merely require the
investigating officers to "inform" the person under investigation; rather, it requires
that the latter be "informed."
-- there should be several short and clear questions and every right explained in
simple words in a dialect or language known to the person under investigation
instead of a long question followed by a monosyllabic answer does not satisfy the
requirements of the law that the accused be informed of his rights under the
Constitution and our laws.
RIGHT TO COUNSEL - the right to counsel refers to competent and independent
lawyers preferably chosen by the accused persons themselves.
-"[w]e have constitutionalized the right to counsel because of our hostility against
the use of duress and other undue influence in extracting confessions from a
suspect. Force and fraud tarnish confessions and render them inadmissible." This
Court has consistently held, without equivocation, that no custodial investigation
shall be conducted unless it is done in the presence of counsel. ( pp VS Muleta, 6—
25-99, GR 130189)
-The right to counsel is a fundamental right and is intended to preclude the slightest
coercion that would lead the accused to admit something false. The right to counsel
attaches upon the start of the investigation, i.e., when the investigating officer starts
to ask questions to elicit information and/or confessions or admissions from the
accused
WAIVER OF RIGHTS - The waiver, in order to be valid, should have been in a language
that clearly manifested his desire to do so
- Such waiver MUST show his understanding of his rights, his waiver of those rights,
and the implications of his waiver.
WHEN THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROCEDURES ON CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION DO NOT
APPLY:
1) VOLUNTARY & SPONTANEOUS CONFESSION -to a spontaneous
statement, not elicited through questioning by the authorities, but given
in an ordinary manner whereby appellant orally admitted having
committed the crime.
VOLUNTARY CONFESSION – spontaneous statement, not elicited through questioning
by the authorities but given in an ordinary manner whereby appellant orally
admitted having committed the crime.
- What the constitution bars is the compulsory disclosure of incriminating
facts or confessions, not to prevent one from freely and voluntarily telling
the truth.
e.g. – appellant talked with the mayor as a confidant. ( PP v Andan, 336 Phil
91, 1997)
- accused uttered “ sinaksak kop o yung tatay ko! Napatay ko na po”, while
holding a knife to police officers standing outside the police station ( PP v
Guting, 9-9-15)
2) IDENTIFICATION IN A POLICE LINE UP
- the right to counsel guaranteed in Art. III, § 12(1) of the Constitution does not
extend to police lineups because they are not part of custodial investigations. The
reason for this is that at that point, the process has not yet shifted from the
investigatory to the accusatory. The accused's right to counsel attaches only from the
time that adversary judicial proceedings are taken against him. ( PP vs Lamsing)
-It has been held, however, that the police line-up is not part of the custodial
investigation, where, as here, the suspects had not yet been held then to answer for
the criminal offense with which they were later charged and convicted. 21The Court
has held that there is no real need to afford a potential suspect the services of
counsel at the police line-up, for the customary practice is that it is the witness who
is investigated or interrogated in the course of the line-up. It is the witness who gives
a statement to the police, rather than the accused who is not questioned at all at
that stage. ( PP vs Timple)
WHEN THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROCEDURES ON CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION APPLY:
 1) Extrajudicial confession 1. his rt to remain silent 2. his right to remain silent

- confessions extracted without the assistance of counsel are taboo and useless in a 3. to have competent and 3. the right to be informed of and to have
court of law. independent counsel, preferably competent and independent counsel
of his own choice, who shall at all preferably of his own choice.
-To be acceptable, extrajudicial confessions must conform to constitutional times be allowe to confer
requirements. A confession is not valid and not admissible in evidence when it is privately with him.
obtained in violation of any of the following rights of persons under custodial
investigation: to remain silent, to have independent and competent counsel 4. If such person cannot afford the 4. If the person cannot afford the services of
preferably of their own choice, to be provided with counsel if they are unable to services of his own counsel, he counsel, he must be provided with one.
secure one, to be assisted by such counsel during the investigation, to have such must be provided with a
counsel present when they decide to waive these rights, and to be informed of all
competent and independent
these rights and of the fact that anything they say can and will be used against them
counsel,
in court.
5. Any waiver of the provisions of 6. These rights cannot be waived
- If the extrajudicial confession satisfies these constitutional standards, ( SEC 12, Art except in writing and in the presence
Art. 125 of the RPC shall be in
III) it is subsequently tested for voluntariness, i.e., if it was given freely — without of counsel.
coercion, intimidation, inducement, or false promises; and credibility, i.e., if it was writing and signed by such person
consistent with the normal experience of mankind. in the presence of his counsel,
otherwise the waiver is null and
A confession that meets all the foregoing requisites constitutes evidence of a high void.
order because no person of normal mind will knowingly and deliberately confess to
be the perpetrator of a crime unless prompted by truth and conscience. Otherwise,
it is disregarded in accordance with the cold objectivity of the exclusionary rule

2) . At the supposed reenactment, accused must be assisted by counsel of

his choice. Otherwise, the alleged confession and the pictures of the
supposed re-enactment are inadmissible as evidence because they were
obtained in a manner contrary to law

Custodial rts (RA 7438) - Inform the Constitutional rts. ( sec 12, Art III) - Any
person A,D,UC, in a language known and person under investigation for the
understood by him commission of an offense shall have :