CRIMPRO RULE 126

Title GR No. 204589

Sanchez v. People Date: November 19 , 2014
Ponente: Mendoza, J.
Rizaldy Sanchez, petitioner People of the Philippines , respondent
This is a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 seeking to reverse and set aside the July 25, 2012 Decision and the November
20, 2012 Resolution of the Court of Appeals (CA), in CA-G.R. CR No. 31742 filed by petitioner Rizaldy Sanchez y Cajili
(Sanchez), affirming the April 21, 2005 Decision of the Regional Trial Court of Imus, Cavite, Branch 20 (RTC), which
convicted him for Violation of Section 11, Article l l of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9165.
FACTS
1. Sanchez was charged for violation of Sec. 11 of Article II of RA 9165 for the possession of shabu. He pleaded not
guilty to the offense charged.
Prosecution’s Version of Facts
 SPO1 Elmer Amposta together with other CSUs Hernandez, Tagle, and Monzon, acted on the information that
Jacinta Marciano was selling drugs to tricycle drivers. They were dispatched to Brgy. Alapan 1-B, Imus, Cavite,
to conduct an operation.
 While at the place, they waited for a tricycle going to, and coming from the house of Jacinta. After a few
minutes, they spotted a tricycle carrying Rizaldy Sanchez coming out of the house. The group chased the
tricycle. After catching up with it, they requested Sanchez to alight. It was then they noticed Rizaldy holding
a match box.
 SPO1 Amposta asked Sanchez if he could see the contents of the match box which the latter agreed to. While
examining it, SPO1 Amposta found a small transparent plastic sachet which contained a white crystalline
substance. Suspecting that it was a regulated drug, the group accosted Sanchez and the tricycle driver. They
were brought to the police station.
 The forensic chemist from NBI found that the said susbtance was shabu.

Defense’s Version of Facts

 Sanchez denied all the allegations of the prosecution. He said that he and Darwin Reyes were on their way
hope where they transported a passenger, when their way was blocked by four armed men riding an owner-
type jeepney. Without a word, the four men frisked him and Darwin. He protested and asked what offense
did they commit. The officers told him that they had just bought drugs from Alapan. He reasoned out that he
merely transported a passenger there but the policemen still accosted him and he was brought to Imus Police
Station.
 On cross-examination, the accused admitted tht it was the first time that he saw the police officers at the
time he was arrested.

2. The RTC ruled that Sanchez was caught in flagrante delicto, in actual possession of shabu. It stated that the police
operatives had reasonable ground to believe that Sanchez was in possession of the said dangerous drug and
suspicion was confirmed when the match box Sanchez was carrying was found to contain shabu.
3. The CA found no cogent reason to reverse or modify the findings of facts and conclusions reached by the RTC and
upheld the conviction of Sanchez. According to the CA, there was probable cause for the police officers that he
was seen leaving the residence of a notorious drug dealer, where, according to a tip they received, illegal drug
activities were being perpetrated. It also conccluded that the confiscation by the police operative of the subject
narcotics from Sanchez was pursuant to a valid search.
ISSUE/S
I. Whether or not the Sanchez was caught in flagrante delicto hence a search warrant was no longer necessary
–NO
RATIO
It is observed that the Court of Appeals confused the search incidental to a lawful arrest with stop-and-frisk principle.

A stop-and-frisk search is entirely different from and should not be confused with the search incidental to a lawful arrest
envisioned in Sec. 13 Rule 126.

In a search incidental to a lawful arrest, arrest determines the validity of the incidental search. The law requires that there
first be a lawful arrest before a search can be made, the process cannot be reveresed. The arresting officer may search
the person of the arrestee and the area within which the latter may reach for a weapon or for evidence to destroy, and
seize any money or property found which was used in the commission of the crime.

As held in Terry v. Ohio, the Terry stop-and-frisk serach is a limited protective searcch of outer clothing for weapons.
Where a police officer observes unusual conduct which leads him to reasonably conclude in light of his experience that
criminal activity may be afoot and that the persons with whom he is dealing may be armed and presently dangerous,
where in the course of investigating this behavior he identifies himself as apoliceman and makes reasonable inquiries, he
is entitled for the protection of himself.

The two-fold interest of stop-and-frisk are:

1. The general interest of effective crime prevention and detection, which underlies the recognition that a police
officer may, under appropriate circumstances and in an appropriate manner, approach a person for purposes of
investigating possible criminal behavior even without probable cause
2. The more pressing interest of safety and self-preservation which permit the police office to take steps to assure
himself that the person with whom he deals is not armed with a deadly weapon that could unexpectedly and
fatally be used against the police officer.

IN THE CASE AT BENCH, neither the in flagrante delict arrest nor the stop-and-frisk principle was applicable to justify the
warrantless search and seizure made by the police operatives. The search preceded the arrest of Sanchez . There was no
arrest prior to the conduct of the search. Under Sec. 1 of Rule 113, arrest is the taking of a person into custody that he
may be bound to answer for the commission of an offense. Sec. 2 of the same rules provides that an arrest is effected by
an actual restraint of the person to be arrested or by his voluntary submission to the custody of the person making the
arrest.

It appears that SPO1 Amposta after they caught up with the tricycle just noticed Sanchez holding a match box and
requested if he could see the contents. The arrest was made only after the discovery by SPO1 Amposta of the shabu
inside the boxx. What happened in this case was a search first before arrest was effected. This does not qualifiy under a
valid warrantless arrest under Sec. 5 Rule 113*.

The evidence on record reveals that no physical act could be properly attributed to Sanchez as to rouse suspicion in the
minds of the police operatives that he had just committeed, was committing, or was about to commit a crime. He was
merely seen by the police operatives leaving the residence of a known drug peddler. IT has not been established either
that the rigorous conditions set in par. B of Sec 5 of Rule 113 have been complied with. The police officers had no
personal knowledge to believe that Sanchez bought shabu from the notorious drug dealer and actually possessed the
illegal drug when he boarded the tricycle. The police officers had no inkling whatsoever as to what Sanchez did inside the
house of the known drug dealer. Nowhere in the prosecution evidence does it show that the drug dealer was conducting
her nefarious drug activities insidde the house. There was no over manifestation on the part of Sanchez that he had just
engaged in, was actually engaging in, or was attemptin to engage in the criminal activity of ilegally possessiong shabu.

There is no valid stop-and-frisk. This is an act of apolice officer to stop a citizen on the street, interrogate him and pat him
for weapon/s or contraband. The police officer should properly introduce himself and make initial inquiries, approach and
restrain a person who manifests unusual and suspicious conduct, in order to check the latter’s outer clothing for possible
concealed weapons. The apprehending officer must have a genuine reason, in accordance with the police officer’s
experience and the surrounding conditions, to warrant the belief that the person to be held has weapons or contraband
concealed.

The Court does not find the totality of the circumstance sufficient to incite a reasonable suspicion that would justify a
stop-and-frisk search on Sanchez. Coming out from the house of a drug pusher and boarding a tricylce without more,
were innocuous movements, and by themselves alone could not give rise in the mind of an experienced and prudent
police officer of any belief that he had shabu in his possession.

Lastly, the OSG characterizes the seuzure of the subject shabu from Sanchez as seizure of evidence in plain view. The SC
disagrees.

Under the plaint view doctrine, objects falling in the plain view of an officer who has a right to be in the position to have
that view are subject to seizure and may be presented as evidence.
The following are the requisites:
1. 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
2. the discovery of evidence in plain view is inadvertent
3. it is immediately apparent to the officer that the item he observes may be evidence of a crime, contraband, or
otherwise subject to seizure.

It is readily apaprent that the seizure of the subject shabu does not fall within the plain view exception. There was no valid
intrusion. Sanchez was illegally arrested. The subject shabu was not inadvertently discovered and it was not plainly
exposed to sight. Here, the subject shabu was alledly inside amatch box being then held by Sanchez and was not readily
apparent or transparent to the police officers.

RULING
Given the procedural lapses pointed out above, a serious uncertainty hangs over the identity of the seized shabu that the
prosecution introduced in evidence. The prosecution failed to establish an unbroken chain of custody, resulting in
rendering the seizure and confiscation of the shabu open to doubt and suspicion. Hence, the incriminatory evidence
cannot pass judicial scrutiny. WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The assailed July 25, 2012 Decision and the
November 20, 2012 Resolution of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR No. 31742 are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. Petitioner
Rizaldy Sanchez y Cajili is ACQUITTED on reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the Court orders the immediate release of the
petitioner, unless the latter is being lawfully held for another cause; and to inform the Court of the date of his release, or
reason for his continued confinement, within ten (10) days from receipt of notice.

Notes
* Sec. 5. Arrest without warrant; when lawful. - A peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a
person:

(a) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actuallly committing, or is attempting to commit an
offense;

(b) When an offense has just been committed and he has probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts
or circumstances that the person to be arrested has committed it; and

(c) When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment or place where he is serving
final judgment or is temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one
confinement to another.

2-S 2016-17 (SALVACION)