Custodial Investigation Notes PDF

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Custodial Investigation of the Accused. The rights of persons under custodial investigation seek to provide a balance between the lowly, untrained criminal....

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CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION What is Custodial Investigation?  As an investigative process, custodial investigation can be traced to American jurisprudence, the landmark case of Miranda vs Arizona, where the US Supreme Court elaborated that, custodial interrogation means “questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.” (Miranda vs Arizona, 384 U.S. 436)  Custodial investigation “presupposes that he is suspected of having committed a crime and that the investigator is trying to elicit information or a confession from him. The rule begins to operate at once as soon as the investigation ceases to be a general inquiry into an unsolved crime, and direction is aimed upon a particular suspect who has been taken into custody and to whom the police would then direct interrogatory questions which tend to elicit incriminating statements.” (Jesalva vs. People of the Philippines, GR No. 187725, January 19, 2011)  In Philippine jurisdiction, custodial investigation “includes the practice of issuing an invitation to a person who is investigated in connection with an offense he is suspected to have committed”. (Section 2, last paragraph, RA No. 7438) Essential Requisites of Custodial Investigation There is custodial investigation when: a. A person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way; b. A law enforcement officer took the said person into custody or deprived him of his freedom of action; and c. A law enforcement officer initiated questioning such person in connection with the commission of an offense (Sadili & Pena, Comprehensive Crim Invest Procedure, 1998 Ed., p. 284). Section 12, Article III of the 1987 Constitution provides: 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, in communicado, 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 the rehabilitation of victim of torture or similar practices, and their families.

EFFECT WHEN THE ABOVE RIGHTS ARE NOT OBSERVED: - Renders all evidence obtained therefrom to be inadmissible in court being the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. - The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine- All evidence (Fruit) derived from an illegal search (the poisonous tree) must be suppressed. MIRANDA RIGHTS (Miranda v Arizona) (Research and Memorize the English and Tagalog Version) RIGHTS THAT CAN BE WAIVED: The right to remain silent and the right to have a competent and independent counsel can be waived. But it must be: 1. put in writing, 2. signed by the person under detention or arrested, 3. in the presence of the lawyer, 4. lawyer must attest or must sign the waiver as well, that the person has waived his right to remain silent. TWO VIEWS as to when CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION BEGINS 1. Restrictive View- Limited to in-custody interrogations as when the accused has been arrested and brought to the custody of the police for questioning. 2. Expanded View- Contemplates two situations: (1) general inquiry as to identification, circumstances of a crime without any focus on any particular suspect; and (2) suspicion is focused on a particular person and questions are asked from him to elicit admissions or information. STEPS DURING CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION The Supreme Court prescribes the following steps after informing the suspect of his rights: 1. The investigator should ask the suspect whether, after being informed of the cause of the indictment against him, he wants and is willing to give a statement of his version. 2. In the affirmative, the suspect should next be asked if he has a lawyer to assist him. 3. If he answers he wanted a counsel but could not afford to secure one, he should ask if he wanted one to be appointed for him. If the investigator fails to pursue these questions before taking down the suspect’s statement, there would be no effective waiver of his rights to remain silent and to counsel. ( Gamboa v. Cruz, 162 SCRA 642) INSTANCES WHERE THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROCEDURES ON CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION DO NOT APPLY: 1. Police Line Up 2. When confessed to a media personnel or confidante. 3. Spontaneous Statement 4. Statements given by the suspect to his employer 5. Extrajudicial admission to the prosecutor or private person....