People v Guarin,
GR No. 252857
Facts:
Karlo Guarin was arrested during a buy-bust operation for the alleged illegal sale and illegal possession of shabu. While at the place of arrest, POl Corpuz marked the plastic sachet subject ofthe sale with his initials "AC", and the other two (2) plastic sachets recovered from the appellant's possession with "AC-I" and "AC-2". The markings and the preparation of the confiscation receipt of the seized items were done in the presence ofthe appellant, Brgy. Kag. Victor Aquino, media representative Nuqui and the other police officers, who all affixed their signatures on the receipt and photos were taken. The items were send to crime lab for testing which yielded positive results for shabu.
Appellant argues that the prosecution failed to establish an unbroken chain of custody of the seized drugs because only 2 witnesses were present during the inventory and photograph of the seized drugs.
Issue:
Whether prosecution failed to establish an unbroken chain of custody of the seized drugs.
Held:
NOT anymore. The crimes were committed on March 23, 2015. The governing law is R.A. No. 10640, which amended R.A. No. 9165 and which took effect on July 23, 2014.
To establish the identity of the dangerous drugs with moral certainty, the prosecution must be able to account for each link of the chain of custody from the moment the drugs are seized up to their presentation in court as evidence of the crime. As part of the chain of custody procedure, the law requires, inter alia, that the marking, physical inventory, and photography of the seized items be conducted immediately after seizure and confiscation of the same. The law now only requires two (2) witnesses to be present during the conduct of the physical inventory and taking of photograph of the seized items, namely: (a) an elected public official; and (b) either a representative from the Department of Justice or the media.
No comments:
Post a Comment