Section 21- EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC- The Judge may, motu proprio, exclude the public from the

court room if the evidence to be produced during trial is offensive to decency or public morals. He, may
also, on motion of the accused, exclude the public from the trial except court personnel and the counsel of
the parties.
General Rule: The accused has the right to a public trial.

The Court may not close the door of the court room to the general public.

WHEN THE COURT WILL EXCLUDE PUBLIC FROM THE COURT ROOM
1. When the evidence to be produced during the trial is such of a character as to be offensive to
decency or public morals.
2. Upon motion of the accused
IN CASE OF EXCLUSION, THE FOLLOWING WILL HAVE TO BE PRESENT AT THE COURT ROOM:
1. Court Personnel
2. Counsel of the parties

WITNESSES (who has yet to testify)- The trial Judge has the discretion whether to exclude them from the
Court room or not while the testimony of another witness is being given.
PARTY ( to the case/action)- Although he himself is a witness, he cannot be excluded. Every party to a
case has the right to be present in the court while the case is being tried, and the rule permitting the
exclusion of witnesses does not extend to him, otherwise he will be deprived of his constitutional right to
be present during the trial.
PEOPLE vs LUA CHU
In appeal, Lua Chu alleged errors committed by the court in its judgement. Lua Chu alleged that the court
permitted Juan Samson, prosecution star witness, to remain the court room while other prosecution
witnesses were testifying, despite the previous order of the court excluding the Government witnesses
from the court room.
The Supreme Court held that, it is within the power of the Judge to allow him to be present at the court
room and it will not tantamount to abuse of discretion.
Section 22- CONSOLIDATION OF TRIALS OF RELATED OFFENSES- Charges for offenses founded on
the same facts or forming part of a series of offenses of similar character may be tried jointly at the
discretion of the court.
PURPOSE: Is to avoid multiplicity of suits, guard against oppression or abuse, prevent delay, clear
congested dockets, simplify the work of the trial court, and save unnecessary cost and expenses.
WHERE SEPERATE INFORMATIONS ARE FILED, CASE CONSOLIDATION ARE POSSIBLE:
1. For offenses founded on the same facts
2. For offenses which form part of a series of offenses or of similar character.
PALANCA VS QUERUBEN

Petitioner Simplicio Palanca is indicted before the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental in 22
separate criminal cases, all involving estafa thru falsification of public documents. These cases were
spread by raffle among four district judges of the different branches of the court.
Petitioner moved to motion to quash and he asked the Judges to consolidate the different cases. Both
request was denied by the Judges.
The Supreme Court held that the Judges gravely abused their discretion in denying petitioners motion for
consolidation.
Section 22 of Rule 119- the consolidation of the case is proper if it appears that all the information filed
against the accused show only one offended party, one accused, and one set of witnesses.
SECTION 23- DEMURRER TO EVIDENCE- After the prosecution rests its case, the court may dismiss
the action on the ground of insufficiency of evidence (1) on its own initiative after giving the prosecution
the opportunity to be heard or (2) upon demurrer to evidence filed by the accused with or without leave of
Court.
DEMURRER TO EVIDENCE - It is an objection by one of the parties in an action, to the effect that the
evidence which his adversary produced is insufficient in point of law, whether true or not, to make out a
case or sustain the issue.

PEOPLE VS MAMACOL

Mamacol was prosecuted for murder and having been found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for
the death of Roman Dagodob around midnight of Oct. 16, 1946.

Only two witnesses testified for the prosecution :Apontok Mamangkas (widow of the deceased) and Liet.
Payucan Moro, who investigated the crime.

On appeal it was ruled that, after going over the evidence, the defendants guilt has not been establish
beyond reasonable doubt.

AFTER THE PROSECUTION SHALL HAVE RESTED ITS CASE, THE CASE MAY BE
DISMISSED IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING MANNER:
a. Court on its own initiative can dismiss the case after giving prosecution opportunity to be heard
b. Accused files demurrer with or without leave of court
c. If the demurrer is denied:

With leave of court, accused can present his evidence

Without leave of court, accused waives right to present evidence

With or Without Leave of Court

a) With leave
if the motion is denied, he can still present evidence.
The motion must be filed within a nonextendible period of 5 days after the prosecution rests its case.
If leave is granted, the accused shall file the demurrer to evidence within a nonextendible period of 10
days from notice of the grant of leave of court.
The prosecution may oppose the demurrer to evidence within a non-extendible period of 10 days from
receipt of the demurrer.

b) Without leave
if the motion is denied, he loses the right to present evidence and the case will bedeemed submitted for
decisionIf there are two or more accused and only one of them presents a demurrer to evidence, without
leave
of court, the trial court may defer resolution thereof until the decision is rendered on the other accused.
An order denying the motion for leave of court to file a demurer shall NOT be reviewable by appeal or by
certiorari before judgment. This is because demurrer is merely interlocutory. However, if there was grave
abuse of discretion, then certiorari may apply. If the court denies the demurrer to evidence without leave
of court, the accused is deemed to have waived his right to present evidence and submits the case for
judgment on the basis of the evidence of the prosecution.
Section 24- REOPENING- At any time before finality of the judgment of conviction, the Judge may , motu
proprio or upon motion, with hearing in either case, reopen the proceedings to avoid a miscarriage of
justice. The proceedings shall be terminated within (30) days from the order granting it.
PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO FILE MOTION TO REOPEN
1. Judge
2. Prosecutor
3. Accused

Note: The right of the Prosecutor to reopen the case is not extended to the filing of a motion for new trial
or reconsideration wherein the prosecution is not of those allowed.