Rights Of The Accused: Right To Counsel Mandatory Only In Custodial Investigation... - The Lawyer's Post

See - Rights Of The Accused: Right To Counsel Mandatory Only In Custodial Investigation... - The Lawyer's Post





"x x x.

Worth pointing out is that the letter was not a confession due to its not expressly acknowledging the guilt of the accused for qualified theft. Under Section 30, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court, a confession is a declaration of an accused acknowledging guilt for the offense charged, or for any offense necessarily included therein.

Nonetheless, there was no need for a counsel to have assisted the accused when she wrote the letter because she spontaneously made it while not under custodial investigation.  Her insistence on the assistance of a counsel might be valid and better appreciated had she made the letter while under arrest, or during custodial investigation, or under coercion by the investigating authorities of the Government. The distinction of her situation from that of a person arrested or detained and under custodial investigation for the commission of an offense derived from the clear intent of insulating the latter from police coercion or intimidation underlying Section 12 of Article III (Bill of Rights) of the 1987 Constitution, which provides:

Section 12. (1) Any person under investigation for the commission of an offense shall have the right to be informed of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel preferably of his own choice. If the person cannot afford the services of counsel, he must be provided with one. These rights cannot be waived except in writing and in the presence of counsel.

(2)  No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means  which vitiate the free will  shall be used  against him.  Secret detention places,  solitary,  incommunicado,  or other similar forms  of detention are prohibited.

(3)  Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this or Section 17 hereof shall be inadmissible in evidence against him.

(4) The law shall provide for penal and civil sanctions for violations of this section as well as compensation to and rehabilitation of victims of torture or similar practices, and their families.

To reiterate, the rights under Section 12, supra, are available to “any person under investigation for the commission of an offense.” The phrase does not cover all kinds of investigations, but contemplates only a situation wherein “a person is already in custody as a suspect, or if the person is the suspect, even if he is not yet deprived in any significant way of his liberty. ” The situation of the accused was not similar to that of a person already in custody as a suspect, or if the person is the suspect, even if she is not yet deprived in any significant way of his liberty.

        x x x."

Read -, G.R. No. 159450, March 30, 2011, PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. OLIVIA ALETH GARCIA CRISTOBAL, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.