Admissibility; Evidence from Invasive and Involuntary Procedures
(2010)No. XIII. Policemen brought Lorenzo to the Philippine General
Hospital (PGH) and requested one of its surgeons to immediately
perform surgery on him to retrieve a packet of 10 grams of shabu
which they alleged to have swallowed Lorenzo. Suppose the PGH
agreed to, and did perform the surgery is the package of shabu
admissible in evidence? Explain. (3%)SUGGESTED ANSWER: No, the
package of shabu extracted from the body of Lorenzo is not
admissible in evidence because it was obtained through surgery
which connotes forcible invasion into the body of Lorenzo without
his consent and absent due process. The act of the policemen and
the PGH surgeon involved, violate the fundamental rights of
Lorenzo, the suspect. ALTERNATIVE ANSWER:
es, it is admissible in evidence because the constitutional
right against self-incriminating evidence exists. In the past,
Supreme Court has already declared many invasive and
involuntaryprocedures (i.e examination of womensgenitalia,
expulsion of morphine fromones mouth, DNA testing)
asconstitutionally sound. Admissibility; Offer to Settle; Implied
Admission of Guilt (2008)No.VIII. Bembol was charged with
rape.Bembols father, Ramil, approached Artemon, the victims father,
during thepreliminary investigation and offered P1 Million to
Artemon to settle the case. Artemon refused the offer. (A) During
trial, the prosecution presented Artemon to testifyon Ramils offer
andthereby establish and implied admission ofguilt. Is Ramils offer
to settle admissible inevidence? (3%)SUGGESTED ANSWER: Yes, the
offer to settle by the father of the accused, is admissible in
evidence as an implied admission of guilt. (Peo v. Salvador, GR No.
136870-72, 28 January 2003) ALTERNATIVE ANSWER: No, Under Sec. 27,
Rule 130 of the Rules of Court, it is the offer of compromise by
the accused that may be received in evidence as an implied
admission of guilt. The testimony of Artemon would cover the offer
of Ramil and not an offer of the accused himself. (Peo v. Viernes,
GR Nos. 136733-35, 13 December 2001)(B) During the pretrial ,Bembol
personally offered to settle the case for P1 Million to the private
prosecutor, who immediately put the offer on record in the presence
ofthe trial judge. Is Bembolsoffer a judicialadmission of his
guilt. (3%)SUGGESTED ANSWER:Yes, Bembols offer is an admission
ofguilt (Sec. 33 Rule 130). If it was repeated by the private
prosecutor in the presence of judge at the pretrial the
extrajudicial confession becomes transposed into a judicial
confession. There is no need of assistance of counsel. (Peo v.
Buntag, GR No. 123070, 14 April 2004). Best Evidence Rule;
Electronic Evidence (2009)No.XI. [d] An electronic evidence is the
equivalent of an original document under the Best Evidence Rule if
it is a printout or readable by sight or other means, shown to
reflect the data accurately.
