PEOPLE V.

LAPITAJE 11 NOVEMBER 2003 Extrajudicial Confessions Voluntariness FACTS: Accused-appellants were found guilty of Robbery with Homicide by the trial court for willfully, unlawfully and feloniously, with intent to gain by means of force, threat and intimidation, entering the store of Domingo Colonia and killing one Nelson Saavedra. Witnesses were presented and and both parties gave their testimonies and alibis. Accused-appellants were brought into custody without a warrant of arrest. Subsequently, firearms were seized by the police without a search warrant. It was alleged that those were the weapons used in the perpetration of the crime. ISSUE: Whether or not the accused was deprived of due process safeguarded by the Bill of Rights in relation to the admissbility of evidence. HELD: The court held that the firearms seized by the police was inadmissble as evidence, being acquired without a warrant. This mentioned, the trial court erred in convicting the defendants of Robbery with homicide. The inadmissibility of the firearms as evidence would cause the failure of the prosecution to bind all the accused of the crime charged. Only those proven beyond reasonable doubt by the testimonies and witnesses were held guilty of the court.