Overview
This lecture covers the key concepts and procedures in crime scene investigation, grounds and rules for arrest, search, and seizure, and the rights of persons in custody, focusing on practical and exam-relevant details.
Crime Scene Investigation: Definition and Scope
- Crime scene investigation involves recognizing, handling, preserving, and documenting physical evidence.
- It includes identifying and interviewing witnesses and arresting suspects at the scene.
- Crime scene is any area where the suspect, victim, or witnesses moved during the crime.
Steps in Crime Scene Investigation
- Starts with a report, recorded by the desk officer, including date, time, complainant, place, and incident synopsis.
- The superior is informed, and the CSI team is formed: team leader, evidence collector, health officer, photographer, sketcher/measurer, evidence custodian, and security personnel.
- The first responder must cordon the area, help the injured, get dying declarations, and prevent unauthorized entry/exit.
- PAP rule for the first responder: Preserve life, Arrest suspect, Protect scene.
- CSI establishes a command post upon arrival, conducts briefings, and performs a preliminary survey.
- Photography comes before sketching and measurement; three photo ranges: long, mid-range, close-up.
Crime Scene Searching and Documentation
- Sketch types: rough (on-site), finished (for court), locality (neighborhood), ground (immediate surroundings), details, and cross-projection.
- Search methods: strip, grid, spiral, wheel, and zone.
- Evidence is collected, documented, labeled, and given to the custodian.
- A final survey checks for overlooked evidence before the scene is released.
- Reconstruction follows: physical (appearance) and mental (analysis based on evidence and witness accounts).
- Chain of custody: track every handler of evidence to ensure admissibility.
Arrest, Search, and Seizure: Legal Foundations
- Section 2 protects persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches/seizures, but allows for warrants on probable cause.
- Probable cause means sufficient facts to believe a crime occurred and the person is probably guilty.
- Only judges issue warrants of arrest or search warrants.
Warrantless Arrests and Searches
- Three grounds for warrantless arrest: in flagrante delicto (caught in the act), hot pursuit (immediacy required), and escaped prisoner.
- Requirements for in flagrante delicto: overt act committed in the officer's presence.
- Hot pursuit must occur within the same day of the offense.
- Warrantless searches allowed in eight scenarios: incidental to arrest, plain view, moving vehicle, consented, customs, stop-and-frisk, exigent circumstances, and for regulatory inspections.
- Stop-and-frisk must be based on reasonable suspicion and limited to outer clothing.
Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Rules
- At least one BWC and one backup device are required during warrant execution.
- Absence of BWC does not invalidate arrest, but may make search evidence inadmissible.
- Officers must notify subjects that recording is ongoing.
Rights During Custodial Investigation
- Rights include counsel assistance, Miranda rights, written investigation reports, written extrajudicial confessions, and written waivers.
- Violation results in penalties: fine, imprisonment, or perpetual disqualification from public office.
- Detained persons have the right to family, doctor, priest, and counsel visits.
Regulatory Period of Detention
- Light penalties: 12 hours; correctional: 18 hours; afflictive/capital: 36 hours.
- Exceeding these times without charges constitutes arbitrary detention.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Crime Scene Investigation — Process of collecting and documenting evidence at the crime scene.
- Physical Evidence — Material objects collected from the crime scene.
- First Responder — The first official to arrive and secure the crime scene.
- Chain of Custody — Record of each person who handled evidence.
- Probable Cause — Reasonable grounds to believe a crime was committed.
- Warrant of Arrest — Judge's order to detain a specific person.
- Search Warrant — Judge's order to search a specific place for evidence.
- In Flagrante Delicto — Arrest for a crime committed in the officer’s presence.
- Hot Pursuit — Arrest made soon after the crime based on fresh evidence.
- Custodial Investigation — Investigation after a person is taken into custody.
- Miranda Rights — Right to remain silent and to counsel during interrogation.
- Body-Worn Camera (BWC) — Device recording police activities for accountability.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review notes on the procedures and legal bases for crime scene investigation and arrest/search.
- Memorize sketch types, search methods, and grounds for warrantless arrest/search.
- Read the Bill of Rights, Section 2, and Republic Act 7438 for detailed provisions.
- Prepare for possible board exam questions on procedures, definitions, and legal requirements.