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    Caballes Vs CA

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    Shella Hannah Salih
    1) The police officers stopped the petitioner's vehicle because it was unusually covered with kakawati leaves, making them suspicious of smuggled goods. 2) Upon inspecting the vehicle, the officers found stolen cable wires owned by NPC inside bundles. 3) The court ruled the warrantless search was invalid as merely seeing kakawati leaves on a vehicle does not establish probable cause for an extensive search. Routine vehicle inspections are limited and this search went beyond visual inspection.

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    Caballes Vs CA

    Uploaded by

    Shella Hannah Salih
    191 views2 pages
    1) The police officers stopped the petitioner's vehicle because it was unusually covered with kakawati leaves, making them suspicious of smuggled goods. 2) Upon inspecting the vehicle, the officers found stolen cable wires owned by NPC inside bundles. 3) The court ruled the warrantless search was invalid as merely seeing kakawati leaves on a vehicle does not establish probable cause for an extensive search. Routine vehicle inspections are limited and this search went beyond visual inspection.

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    Caballes vs CA

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    1) The police officers stopped the petitioner's vehicle because it was unusually covered with kakawati leaves, making them suspicious of smuggled goods. 2) Upon inspecting the vehicle, the officers found stolen cable wires owned by NPC inside bundles. 3) The court ruled the warrantless search was invalid as merely seeing kakawati leaves on a vehicle does not establish probable cause for an extensive search. Routine vehicle inspections are limited and this search went beyond visual inspection.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    191 views2 pages

    Caballes Vs CA

    Uploaded by

    Shella Hannah Salih
    1) The police officers stopped the petitioner's vehicle because it was unusually covered with kakawati leaves, making them suspicious of smuggled goods. 2) Upon inspecting the vehicle, the officers found stolen cable wires owned by NPC inside bundles. 3) The court ruled the warrantless search was invalid as merely seeing kakawati leaves on a vehicle does not establish probable cause for an extensive search. Routine vehicle inspections are limited and this search went beyond visual inspection.

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    Caballes vs CA

    G.R. No. 136292, January 15, 2002


    Puno, J.
    Doctrine:
    The mere mobility of vehicles does not give the police officers unlimited discretion to
    conduct indiscriminate searches without warrants if made within the interior of the
    territory and in the absence of probable cause. Still and all, the important thing is that there
    was probable cause to conduct the warrantless search, which must still be present in such a
    case.

    Facts:
    The case is an appeal by certiorari seeking to reverse the decision of the CA finding the
    petitioner guilty of the crime of theft.
    On June 28, 1989, at around 9:15 p.m., Sgt. Victorino Noceja and Pat. Alex De Castro while
    on a routine patrol in Barangay Sampalucan, Pagsanjan, Laguna, spotted a passenger jeep
    unusually covered with "kakawati" leaves.
    Suspecting that the jeep was loaded with smuggled goods, the officers flagged down the
    vehicle which was driven by petitioner. When the officers asked petitioner of the contents
    of the jeep, he did not answer; he appeared pale and nervous.
    With petitioner’s consent, the officers inspected the cargo and found bundles of conductor
    wires owned by the NPC which was valued at Php. 55,244,45. Petitioner was asked where
    the wires came from and he answered that it came from Cavinti, a neighboring town. Danilo
    Cabale took a photo of the petitioner and the goods, and petitioner was turned over to the
    police station later where he was incarcerated for 7 days.
    As a defense, petitioner claimed that he was a NARCOM civilian agent, and that the goods
    came from a certain Resty Fernandez. He allegedly informed Sgt. Callos, his superior, about
    the crime that was about to happen, but the latter told him to continue and Callos would
    serve as a backup so that they could intercept the goods.
    Due to Resty’s vehicle having old tires, the goods were loaded on petitioner’s jeep by five
    masked men and covered with kakawati leaves. He was promised P1,000 for the job.
    Despite explaining the defense, he was ordered to proceed to the police headquarters.
    The RTC ruled against petitioner; the CA affirmed.

    Issue:
    WON the police officers validly searched petitioner’s vehicle.

    Held:
    No. While routine vehicle inspections are not violative of an individual’s right against
    unreasonable searches, such searches are limited to the following instances: (1) where the
    officer merely draws aside the curtain of a vacant vehicle which is parked on the public fair
    grounds; (2) simply looks into a vehicle; (3) flashes a light therein without opening the
    car’s doors; (4) where the occupants are not subjected to a physical or body search; (5)
    where the inspection of the vehicles is limited to a visual search or visual inspection; and
    (6) where the routine check is conducted in a fixed area.
    None of these were observed in the case at bar. The officers had to reach inside the vehicle,
    lift the kakawati leaves, and look at the contents of the sacks before they could see the cable
    wires.
    On the other hand, if the vehicle is subjected to an extensive search, a warrantless search is
    only constitutionally permissible if there is a reasonable or probable cause to believe,
    before the search, that either the motorist is a law-offender, or they will find the
    instrumentality or evidence pertaining to a crime in the vehicle to be searched.
    The court ruled that suspicion which stemmed from seeing a vehicle covered in kakawati
    leaves, which is an uncommon sight, is not enough to establish probable cause. Further,
    there were no confidential reports or tipped information that suggests petitioner would be
    carrying stolen cable wires. Thus, there were no sufficient grounds for a warrantless search
    in this case.
    The Accused was acquitted.

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