Rights of Suspects under Custodial Investigation
Confessions given to a Municipal Mayor
FACTS:
Marianne Guevarra, a second-year nursing student at
Fatima was on her way to her school dormitory in Valenzuelal, Metro Manila when
Pablito Andan asked her to check the blood pressure of the grandmother of
Andan’s wife but there was nobody inside the house. She was punched in the
abdomen by Andan and was brought to the kitchen where he raped her. She was
left in the toilet until it was dark and was dragged to the backyard. It was
when Andan lifted her over the fence to the adjacent vacant lot where she started
to move. Andan hit her head with a concrete block to silence her and dragged
her body to a shallow portion of the lot and abandoned it.
The death of Marianne drew public attention which
prompted Baliuag Mayor Cornelio Trinidad to form a team of police officers to
solve the case. Apart from the vacant lot, they also searched Andan’s nearby
house and found evidences linked to the crime. The occupants of the house were
interviewed and learned that accused-appellant was in Barangay Tangos, Baliuag,
Bulacan. A police team lead by Mayor Trinidad located Andan and took him to the
police headquarters where he was interrogated where he said that Dizon killed
the girl. The three were then brought to Andan’s house where he showed the
police where the bags of Marianne were hidden. They were then brought back to
the police station while waiting for the result of the investigation.
The gruesome crime attracted the media and as they
were gathered at the police headquarters for the result of the investigation,
Mayor Trinidad arrived and proceeded to the investigation room. Upon seeing the
mayor, appellant approved him and whispered a request that they talk privately
to which the mayor agreed. They went to another room and there, the Andan
agreed to tell the truth and admitted that he was the one who killed Marianne.
The mayor opened the door of the room to let the public and the media
representatives witness the confession. Mayor Trinidad first asked for a lawyer
to assist the appellant but since no lawyer was available he ordered the
proceedings photographed and recorded in video. In the presence of the media
and his relatives, Andan admitted to the crime and disclosed how he killed
Marianne and that he falsely implicated Larin and Dizon because of ill-feelings
against them.
However, appellant entered a plea of “not guilty”
during his arraignment. He provided an alibi why he was at his father’s house
at another barangay and testified that policemen tortured and coerced him to
admit the crime but the trial court found him guilty and sentenced him to
death.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the admission of Andan to the mayor
without the assistance of counsel is in violation of the constitution and
cannot be admitted as evidence in court.
RULING:
Under these circumstances, it cannot be claimed
that the appellant’s confession before the mayor is inadmissible. A municipal
mayor has “operational supervision and control” over the local police and may
be deemed a law enforcement officer for purposes of applying Section 12 (1) and
(3) of Article III of the Constitution. However, Andan’s confession to the
mayor was not made in response to any interrogation by the latter. In fact, the
mayor did not question appellant at all and no police authority ordered the
appellant to talk to the mayor. It was the appellant who spontaneously, freely
and voluntarily sought the mayor for a private meeting. The mayor acted as a
confidant and not as a law enforcer and therefore did not violate his
constitutional rights.
Constitutional procedures on custodial
investigation do not apply to a spontaneous statement, not elicited through
questioning by the authorities, but given in an ordinary manner whereby
appellant orally admitted having committed the crime. What the constitution
bars is the compulsory disclosure of incriminating facts or confession. Hence,
we hold that appellant’s confession to the mayor was correctly admitted by the
trial court.
Andan was found guilty of the special complex crime
of rape with homicide.
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