People v. Pinlac - 165 SCRA 675 (1988)

LEAO, JASMINE
Article III. Section 12. VII. The Exclusionary Rule. A. Violation of Rights
People v. Pinlac 165 SCRA 675 [1988]
FACTS: 2 charges were filed against Ronilo Pinlac. The first one is Robbery by entering the house of Koji
Sato and carrying away some valuable articles. The second one is Robbery with Homicide by entering the
house of Saeki Osamu, carrying away a Hitachi Casette Tape Recorder and by stabbing Osamu with a
kitchen knife resulting to the death of the latter.
Mr. Koji Sato had a cook by the name of Delia Marcelino. The latter was employed for almost a year; she
went on maternity leave since she was due to deliver a child with her husband, Pinlac (accused), who had
frequently visited her in Satos place. On the day of the incident, Sato went out of his house. Returning
home at around 11:30 in the evening of the same day, Sato noticed that the front door was already
unlocked. He found out that his watch, a gold necklace, and cash money amounting to P180.00, were all
missing. Sato went to the Makati Police Station to report the robbery. It was when the police investigators
had already reached his residence that he learned about the death of Osamu. Osamus maid revealed that
she saw Pinlac enter the house of Sato and did not see him leave thereafter. The police arrested the accused
and the latter executed an extrajudicial confession.
The version of the defense is as follows: the accused has never left the premises of his house; this fact was
corroborated by witness Barcelino Heramis. Then 3 policemen, came to his house and arrested the accused
for robbing Mr. Sato and for killing Mr. Osamu, without any Warrant of Arrest shown to him despite his
demand. Before he was brought first to the houses of Mr. Sato and Mr. Osamu, walked him around and
showed him the destroyed window; and thereafter brought him inside the house. In short, he was ordered to
reenact according to what the police theorized how the crime was committed. It was at this moment that the
prints of the sole of accuseds shoes were all over the premises of Osamu and Satos houses.
During the investigation at the Police Headquarters in Makati, he was tortured and forced to admit the
crimes charged; and as a result of that unbearable physical torture, his lips and mouth suffered cuts and
cracks to bleed furiously. When accused could no longer bear the torture for seven (7) solid hours when he
ultimately succumbed to the wishes of his torturers and finally signed a prepared confession which he was
not even allowed to read, nor explained to him.
ISSUE: W/N extrajudicial confession was admissible in evidence. NO.
HELD: When the Constitution requires a person under investigation to be informed of his right to remain
silent and to counsel, it must be presumed to contemplate the transmission of a meaningful information
rather than just the ceremonial and perfunctory recitation of an abstract constitutional principle. As a rule,
therefore, it would not be sufficient for a police officer just to repeat to the person under investigation the
provisions of the Constitution. He is not only duty-bound to tell the person the rights to which the latter is
entitled; he must also explain their effects in practical terms. In other words, the right of a person under
interrogation to be informed implies a correlative obligation on the part of the police investigator to
explain, and contemplates an effective communication that results in understanding what is conveyed.
Short of this, there is a denial of the right, as it cannot truly be said that the person has been informed of
his rights.
It is the duty of the prosecution to affirmatively establish compliance by the investigating officer with his
said obligation. Absent such affirmative showing, the admission or confession made by a person under
investigation cannot be admitted in evidence.
The evidence for the prosecution failed to prove compliance with these constitutional rights. Furthermore,
the accused was not assisted by counsel and his alleged waiver was made without the assistance of counsel.
The record of the case is also replete with evidence which was not satisfactorily rebutted by the
prosecution, that the accused was maltreated and tortured for 7 solid hours before he signed the prepared
extra-judicial confession.

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LEAO, JASMINE

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