Properties Subject to Seizure

RULE 126, SECTION 2 OF THE ROC :

The ff are subject to search and seizure:
(1) property subject of the offense
(2) property stolen or embezzled and other proceeds or fruits of the offense
(3) property used or intended to be used as the means of committing an offense

RULE 126, SECTION 13:

- if the search is an accident of a lawful arrest, seizure may be made of
dangerous weapons or anything that may have been used or may constitute
proof in the commission of an offense
ADMISSIBILITY OF ILLEGALLY SEIZED EVIDENCE

ART III, SECTION 3(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. “

- Such evidence shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding. THE FRUIT
OF THE POISONOUS TREE.

* Case: Void because witnesses who testified in support of the application for the
same either were not subject to proper questioning by the judge or had no personal
knowledge of the allegations specified in the same
* The exclusion of unlawfully seized evidence was the only practical means of
enforcing the constitutional injunction against unreasonable searches and seizures
* If the said property is the subject of litigation, like a prosecution for illegal
possession of firearms, it will remain in custodial egis until the case is terminated
* Although Section 3(2) provides, it is submitted that it may nonetheless be used in
the judicial or administrative action that may be filed against the officer responsible
for its illegal seizure.
* in traffic violations: NOT the arrest of the offender but the confiscation of the
driver’s license

Consent to a search
 - must be equivocal, specific, intelligently given and uncontaminated by
any duress or coercion
- not to be lightly inferred and must be shown by clear and convincing
evidence
- burden of proof lies with the State
A VALID CONSENT OR WAIVER OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEE
AGAINST OBTRUSIVE SEARCHES:

(A) the right exists

(B) that the person involved had knowledge, either actual or constructive, of
the existence of such right
(C) the said person had an actual intention to relinquish the right

* A police generally may not without a warrant, search digital information on a cell
phone seized from an individual who has been arrested.
* Digital data stored on a cell phone cannot itself be used as a weapon to harm an
arresting officer or to effectuate the arrestee’s escape. Law enforcement officers
remain free to examine the physical aspects of a phone to ensure that it will not be
used as a weapon
* Legality of a seizure can be contested only by the party whose rights have been
impaired thereby, and the objection to an unlawful search and seizure is purely
personal and cannot be availed of by third parties.
Ex: person who had initial custody of the dangerous drugs was not a police officer or
agent but a guidance counselor – valid
* Buy-bust operations involving illegal or prohibited drugs have been more or less
considered by the SC as giving rise to valid warrantless arrests. Failure to comply
with certain procedures under RA 9165 (now RA 10640) will not render the arrest
of an accused illegal or the items seized or confiscated from him inadmissible. What
is of utmost importance is the preservation of the integrity and the evidentiary
value of the seized items, as the same would be utilized in the determination
of the guilt or innocence of the accused
* Questions concerning both the issuance of the search warrant and the suppression
of evidence seized under it are matters that can be raised only with the issuing court
if no criminal action has in the meantime been filed in another court.
* Under Section 14 of Rule 126, the court which issued the subject warrant would
have jurisdiction over a motion to quash the same, in which proceeding it would be
called upon to test the validity of its issuance, and over an application for injunction,
which was filed with another court, with respect to the same warrant, for purposes
of preventing the agencies which applied for the same from the seized articles in any
criminal proceeding.

* When a case is filed on the basis of evidence seized by virtue of a search warrant,
and the information for the same is subsequently withdrawn, a quashal of said
search warrant and the determination of the issue whether or not there was a
probable cause become moot and academic.

WARRANTLESS SEARCHES AND SEIZURES

*Warrantless searches and seizures at military checkpoints are acknowledge

*Consented searches
– when one voluntarily submits to a search or consents to have it made of his
person or premises, he is precluded from later complaining.
– “The right to be secured from unreasonable search may, like every right, be
waived and such waiver may be made either expressly or impliedly
* RULE 113, SECTION 5
* Incidental to a lawful arrest
- where an arrest is effected by virtue of a valid warrant or under any of the above
circumstances, a search may be made as an incident to such valid arrest
- individual may be frisked for concealed weapons that may be used against the
arresting officer and all unlawful articles found in his person or within his
immediate control may be seized
- evidence obtained during a warrantless search made before, and not after, a
warrant arrest = INADMISSIBLE
- warrantles search was sustained having been done after accused was caught in
flagrante delicto
- may be made only within the permissible area of search, or the place within the
immediate control of the person being arrest (
* RULE 126, SECTION 13
- If the search is an incident of a lawful arrest, seizure may be made of dangerous
weapons or anything that may have been used or may constitute proof in the
commission of an offense
* In flagrante delicto (RULE 113,SECTION 5 (a) )
- the accused is apprehended at the very moment he is committing or attempting to
commit or has just committed an offense in the presence of the arresting officer
- two requisites must concur:
(1) the person to be arrested must execute an overt act indicating that he has just
committed, is actually committing or attempting to commit a crime
(2) such overt act is done in the presence or within the view of the arresting officer
* Warrantless search and seizure of the unlicensed gun, ammunition and
shabu conducted in connection with a lawful entrapment operation, having
been lawfully made in plain view and as an incident to a lawful arrest
- For as long as the chain of custody remains unbroken, even though the procedural
requirements provided for in SEC 21 of RA 9165 (amended by RA 10640) were not
faithfully observed, the guilt of the accused will not be affected.
- Non-participation or non-cooperation with the PDEA in a buy-bust operation
would not render the arrest illegal and the evidence obtained therein inadmissible
- Section 21 of RA 9165 (amended by RA 10640) provides for the distinctions
with respect to the marking of evidence seized in buy-bust operations and those
obtained on the basis of search warrant
* Buy-bust operations
- lawful warrantless arrests, or arrests in flagrante delicto, leading to lawful
warrantless searches and seizures
- the selection of appropriate and effective means of entrapping drug traffickers is
best left to the discretion of police authorities
- buy-bust operation is a legitimate form of entrapment of the culprit
- entrapment v. instigation
- instigation is when a person who is not predisposed to commit the crime is enticed
or lured or talked into committing the crime
- police officer’s act of soliciting drugs during a buy-bust operation (decoy
solicitation) is valid and would not invalidate that buy-bust operation
- prior surveillance is not necessary to render a buy-bust operation legitimate,
especially when the buy-bust team is accompanied to the target area by the
informant
- if there is no showing that the person who effected the warrantless arrest had, in
his own right, knowledge of facts implicating the person arrested to the
perpetration of a criminal offense, the arrest is legally objectionable
*Warrantless arrests made on the basis alone of tips or reliable info is not
sufficient for them to be considered as lawful. The rule requires that the
accused perform some overt act that would indicate that he has committed, is
actually committing or is attempting to commit an offense
- Warrantless arrests of the accused which were based solely on a “report from a
civilian asset” or mere “information” = UNLAWFUL

* The failure of the accused to object to the irregularity of his arrest by itself is
not enough to sustain his conviction. A waiver of an illegal warrantless arrest
does not carry with it a waiver of inadmissibility of evidence seized during the
illegal warrantless arrest.

*Hot Pursuit
Requisites:
(1) an offense has just been committed
(2) the person making the arrest has personal knowledge of facts indicating that
the persons to be arrested has committed it
*Constructive possession of prohibited drugs
– when a person is not home but prohibited drugs are found in the master’s
bedroom of his house
* Even before an arrest, when an officer is justified in believing that the
individual whose suspiscious behavior he is investigating at close range is
presently dangerous to the officer or to other, HE MAY CONDUCT LIMITED
PROTECTIVE SEARCH FOR CONCEALED WEAPONS. Purpose? Not to discover
evidence of crime but to allow the officer to pursue his investigation without
risk of violence
* Persons may lose the protection of the search and seizure clause by
exposure of their persons or property to the public in a manner of reflecting a
lack of subjective expectation of privacy, which expectation society is
prepared to recognized as reasonable

* Airport security procedures

- travelers are notified through airport public address systems, signs and notices in
their airline tickets that they are subject to search and if any prohibited materials or
substances are found, such should be subject to seizure (Thus, not only subjected to
weapons)
* When the right (warrantless arrest) is waived by the person arrested
- provided he knew of such right and knowingly decided not to invoke it
- no waiver is to be presumed where the person merely submits to the arresting
officer in manifestation of his respect for authority or where he allows entry into his
home as a sign of hospitality and politeness
- Section 26, Rule 114 Rules of Court: an application for or admission to bail shall
not bar the accused from challenging the validity of his arrest or the legality of the
warrant issued therefor, or from assailing the regularity or questioning the absence
of a preliminary investigation of the charge against him, provided that he raises
them before entering his plea.
- Searches and seizures without warrant of vessels and aircraft for violation of
customs laws have been the traditional exception to the constitutional requirement
because the vessels and aircraft for violation of customs laws have been the
traditional exception to the constitutional requirement because the vessel can be
quickly moved out of the locality or jurisdiction in which the search must be sought
before the warrant could be secured
- there is no law requiring investigation and surveillance upon receipt of tips from
assets before conducting police operations
*Plain View Doctrine
Requisites:
(a) the law enforcement officer in search of the evidence has a prior justification
for an intrusion or is in a position from which he can view a particular area
(b) the discovery of the evidence in plain view is inadvertent
(c) it is immediately apparent to the officer that the item he observes may be
evidence of a crime, contraband or otherwise subject to seizure
- object is in plain view if the object itself is plainly exposed to sight
- what if object seized is inside a closed package and not in plain view? Cannot
be seized without a warrant but if the package proclaims its contents
(whether by distinctive configuration or transparency) then the contents are
in plain view and may be seized
- element of inadvertence for purposes of an application of the plain view
doctrine would not be present if the police officers intentionally entered the
house with no prior surveillance or investigation before they discovered the
accused with the subject items
- The apprehending officers should have first conducted a surveillance
considering that the identity and address of one of the accused were already
ascertained. After conducting the surveillance and determining the existence
 of probable cause, then a search warrant should have been secured prior to
effecting arrest and seizure.

 What constitutes a reasonable or unreasonable warrantless search or seizure

is purely a judicial question, determinable from the uniqueness of the
circumstances involved, including the purpose of the search or seizure, the
presence or absence of probable cause, the manner in which the search and
seizure was made, the place or thing searched, and the character of the
articles procured.
 An accused is estopped from questioning the legality of his arrest where he
never raised it before entering his plea.
 Objections with respect to any irregularity in a warrantless arrest are
considered waived if not raised before arraignment or entering a plea. An
accused cannot question his arrest for the first time on appeal.
 The illegal arrest of an accused is not a sufficient ground to reverse and set
aside a conviction that was arrived upon a complaint dul filed and a trial
conducted without error.
 An accused who voluntarily submits to the jurisdiction of the trial court is
deemed to have waived his right to question the validity of his arrest, thus
curing whatever defect may have attended his arrest.
 A waiver of an illegal warrantless arrest does not carry with it a waiver of the
inadmissibility of evidence seized during the illegal warrantless arrest.