Morillo,

Aaron Lance C.

1. PEOPLE v. MENESES

PETITIONER: PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPNES RESPONDENT: ROMAN MENESES

DATE: march 26, 1998 PONENTE: Reyes, J.

Question #1: What is the Totality of Circumstances Test:

Answer:

The totality of circumstances test was formulated and used by courts in resolving the admissibility of
out-of-court identifications. The test list three factors: (1) the witness opportunity to view the criminal
at the time of the crime; (2) the witness degree of attention at that time; (3) the accuracy of any prior
description given by the witness; (4) the level of certainty demonstrated by the witness at the
identification; (5) the length of time between the crime and the identification; and, (6) the
suggestiveness of the identification process.

Question #2: What is the rule on conviction?

Answer:

The settled rule however is that conviction should rest on the strength of the prosecution and not on
the weakness of the Defense. The onus is on the prosecution to prove the accused guilty beyond
reasonable doubt, in view of the constitutional presumption of the innocence of the accused. We must
rule that the prosecution failed to so discharge its burden.

Question #3: Whether a child eyewitness is a credible evidence?

Answer:

It taxes the credibility of Christophers testimony that while he knew appellant prior to the crime, being
his uncle, who for some time he was staying with, he failed to point to appellant as the attacker when
questioned by the police immediately after the incident. Wall in his work on eyewitness identification
expound on the danger signals which a trial court judge and the appellate courts should watch out for
when considering identifications in criminal cases, thus: When a person has been the victim of a crime
committed by a friend, acquaintance, relative, or other person previously familiar to him, and decides to
make a complaint to the police, it is to be expected that he would immediately inform them of the name
(or it that be unknown, then at least the identity) of the person whom they should arrest. The victim
would normally tell the police that he had been hit by John Smith, or that her purse had been snatched
by the grocers delivery boy. Of course, some crimes are never reported, for one reason or another. But
once the victim decides to make a criminal complaint, then he will almost invariably name or designate
the perpetrator of the crime immediately, if he is able to do so. The occasional failure of a complainant
to do this is a danger signal of which the courts have sometimes taken note.