Illegality of the Arrest ; how questioned in court

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. JERRY PEPINO y RUERAS and PRECIOSA GOMEZ y CAMPOS, Accused-Appellants. EN BANC, G.R. No. 174471, January 12, 2016.


“x x x.

Illegality of the Arrest

We point out at the outset that Gomez did not question before arraignment the legality of her warrantless arrest or the acquisition of RTC's jurisdiction over her person. Thus, Gomez is deemed to have waived any objection to her warrantless arrest.

It is settled that [a]ny objection to the procedure followed in the matter of the acquisition by a court of jurisdiction over the person of the accused must be opportunely raised before he enters his plea; otherwise, the objection is deemed waived.21 As we held in People v. Samson:22

[A ]ppellant is now estopped from questioning any defect in the manner of his arrest as he failed to move for the quashing of the information before the trial court. Consequently, any irregularity attendant to his arrest was cured when he voluntarily submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the trial court by entering a plea of "not guilty" and by participating in the trial.23

At any rate, the illegal arrest of an accused is not sufficient cause for setting aside a valid judgment rendered upon a sufficient complaint after a trial free from error. Simply put, the illegality of the warrantless arrest cannot deprive the State of its right to prosecute the guilty when all other facts on record point to their culpability. It is much too late in the day to complain about the warrantless arrest after a valid information had been filed, the accused had been arraigned, the trial had commenced and had been completed, and a judgment of conviction had been rendered against her.24

X x x.”