People v. Gonzales, G.R.

182417

THE CASE: This is an appeal from a decision of the CA, convicting accused-appellant
Gonzales, of the offense Sec 5, R.A. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous
Drugs Act).

CRIME Illegal Sale, Section 5, Article II, of Republic Act No. 9165
CHARGED
RTC GUILTY
CA AFFIRMED
SC ACQUITTED

FACTS:
Version of Prosecution:

 In June 2003, Provincial Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) Malolos, Bulacan received a
report that accused Gonzales was a drug pusher.
 (DO NOT RECITE) Pusher - Any person who sells, trades, administers, dispenses,
delivers or gives away to another, on any terms whatsoever, or distributes, dispatches in
transit or transports dangerous drugs or who acts as a broker in any of such
transactions, in violation of this Act.
 The next day, Police Chief Inspector Morales planned a buy-bust operation to capture
Gonzales. He assigned PO1 Dimla as the poseur-buyer and PO2 Chan as the
back-up/arresting officer.
 PO1 Dimla marked the two 100-peso bills that will be used in the buy-bust operation,
with his own initials “ED”. He then proceeded to record the marked bills in the police
blotter.
 PO1 Dimla and PO2 Chan met with the informant and the three proceeded to the house
of Gonzales.
 PO2 Chan positioned himself outside the fieled view of the accused. On the other hand,
the informant introduced PO1 Dimla as an interested buyer to Gonzales. Gonzales then
handed the alleged shabu in a plastic sachet to PO1 Dimla and in turn, PO1 Dimla
handed the two 100-peso bills bearing his initials to Gonzales.
 At this moment, PO2 Chan arrested Gonzales upon seeing their pre-arranged signal
(PO2 Dimla removed his cap).
 Immediately after the arrest, PO1 Dimla marked the plastic sachet with his initials “ED.”
 The Bulacan Provincial Crime Laboratory Office certified that the contents of the plastic
sachet were 0.194 gram of shabu.
Version of Defense:

 In his defense, Gonzales denied the accusation. He was only resting in front of his
house when five armed men forced him to go inside the house. The armed men asked
him where his father was, to which he answered that he did not know.
 The armed men also prevented his mother from calling the barangay officials.
 After they searched the house, they then brought him to Camp General Alejo Santos.
  GONZALES’ SISTER: She saw five armed men enter their house, but she was
prevented from going inside. She then reported the incident to the brgy, but when they
reached the house, the armed men and her brother were already gone.
RTC: GUILTY; Life Imprisonment & a fine of 500K

CA: AFFIRMED
Evidently, the errors assigned and the arguments in support thereof turn on the issue of
credibility.

 It is an entrenched rule that the matter of assigning values to declarations on the

witness stand is best and most competently performed by the trial judge, who,
unlike appellate magistrates, can weigh such testimony in the light of the
declarant’s demeanor, conduct and attitude at the trial and is thereby placed in a
more competent position to discriminate between the true and the false.
Allegation of appellant that his constitutional right was violated cannot overcome the
presumption of regularity in the performance of official duties enjoyed by the officers
tasked to enforce the law.

 Unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the members of the buy-bust team
were inspired by any improper motive or were not properly performing their duty, their
testimonies with respect to the operation deserve full faith and credit.
ISSUE: W/N accused is guilty of violating Sec 5, Art. 2, of the RA 9165
HELD:
NO.

Elements of Illegal Sale:

The State must establish the concurrence of the following elements, namely:
a) that the transaction or sale took place between the accused and the poseur buyer;
and
b) that the dangerous drugs subject of the transaction or sale is presented in court as
evidence of the corpus delicti (body of crime the body of the crime, or the actual
commission by someone of the particular offense charged)
 it is indispensable for the State to establish that the dangerous drugs subject of
the transaction or sale and subsequently examined in the laboratory are the
same dangerous drugs presented in court as evidence.
 To achieve that end, Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9165 and Section 21(a) of
the (IRR) define the procedures to be followed by the apprehending officers in
the seizure and custody of the dangerous drugs.

IRR R.A. 9165:

SECTION 21. Custody and Disposition of Confiscated, Seized and/or Surrendered
Dangerous Drugs,Plant Sources of Dangerous Drugs, Controlled Precursors and
Essential Chemicals, Instruments/Paraphernalia and/or Laboratory Equipment. — The
PDEA shall take charge and have custody of all dangerous drugs, plant sources of
 dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals, as well as
instruments/paraphernalia and/or laboratory equipment so confiscated, seized and/or
surrendered, for proper disposition in the following manner:

(a) The apprehending officer/team having initial custody and control of the
drugs shall, immediately after seizure and confiscation, physically
inventory and photograph the same in the presence of the
 accused or the person/s from whom such items were confiscated
and/or seized, or his/her representative or counsel,
 a representative from the media and the Department of Justice
(DOJ), and
 any elected public official who shall be required to sign the copies
of the inventory and be given a copy thereof:

Provided, that the physical inventory and photograph shall be conducted

at the place where the search warrant is served; or at the nearest police
station or at the nearest office of the apprehending officer/team,
whichever is practicable, in case of warrantless seizures;

Provided, further, that non-compliance with these requirements under

justifiable grounds, as long as the integrity and the evidentiary value
of the seized items are properly preserved by the apprehending
officer/team, shall not render void and invalid such seizures of and
custody over said items;

PURPOSE:
1. To eliminate the grave mischiefs of planting or substitution of evidence and the
unlawful and malicious prosecution of the weak and unwary
2. consistent with the doctrine that penal laws shall be construed strictly against the
Government and liberally in favor of the accused.
CHAIN OF CUSTODY – DDB Regulation No. 1, S 2002
“Chain of Custody” means the duly recorded authorized movements and custody of
seized drugs or controlled chemicals or plant sources of dangerous drugs or laboratory
equipment of each stage, from the time of
1. seizure/confiscation to
2. receipt in the forensic laboratory
3. to safekeeping
4. to presentation in court for destruction.
Such record of movements and custody of seized item shall include:
1. the identity and signature of the person who held temporary custody of the
seized item,
2. the date and time when such transfer of custody were made in the course of
safekeeping and use in court as evidence,
3. and the final disposition;

CORPUS DELICTI
Without such dangerous drugs being presented as evidence, the State does not establish
 the corpus delicti.
Corpus Delicti: the body of the crime, or the actual commission by someone of the
particular offense charged.
The corpus delicti is a compound fact made up of two (2) things, viz.:
1. the existence of a certain act or result forming the basis of the criminal charge, and
2. the existence of a criminal agency as the cause of this act or result.
MARKING operates to set apart as evidence the dangerous drugs or related items from other
material from the moment they are confiscated until they are disposed of at the close of the
criminal proceedings, thereby forestalling switching, planting, or contamination of evidence
IN THE CASE AT BAR:
The first stage in the chain of custody is the marking of the dangerous drugs or related
items.
The marking must be immediately done upon confiscation of the illegal drugs in the
presence of the accused.
This is indispensable in the preservation of their integrity and evidentiary value.

 Although PO1 Dimla, the State’s lone witness,22 testified that he had marked the
sachet of shabu with his own initials of “ED” following Gonzales’ arrest he:
1. Did not explain, either in his court testimony or in the joint affidavit of arrest, whether
his marking had been done in the presence of Gonzales, or done immediately
upon the arrest of Gonzales.
2. Nor did he show by testimony or otherwise who had taken custody of the sachet of
shabu after he had done his marking,
3. and who had subsequently brought the sachet of shabu to the police station, and,
still later on, to the laboratory.
The indeterminateness of the identities of the individuals who could have handled the
sachet of shabu after PO1 Dimla’s marking broke the chain of custody, and tainted
the integrity of the shabu ultimately presented as evidence to the trial court.

 Poseur buyer PO1 Dimla nowhere recalled in court that he and PO2 Chua had
conducted the physical inventory and photographing of the shabu subject of the sale by
Gonzales.
1. Omission can only mean that no such inventory and photographing were done by
them
 The omission exposed another weakness of the evidence of guilt,
considering the three-witness rule:
 accused or the person/s from whom such items were confiscated
and/or seized, or his/her representative or counsel,
 a representative from the media and the Department of Justice
(DOJ), and
 any elected public official
Noncompliance with the procedure:
That the non-compliance with the procedures thereby delineated and set would not
necessarily invalidate the seizure and custody of the dangerous drugs provided there
were justifiable grounds for the non-compliance and provided that the integrity of the
evidence of the corpus delicti was preserved.
But the non-compliance with the procedures, to be excusable, must have to be justified
by the State’s agents themselves.
 Considering that PO1 Dimla tendered no justification in court for the non-
compliance with the procedures, the exception did not apply herein. The
absolution of Gonzales should then follow.