Ordinance, regulation violation does not justify warrantless search —SC

The violation of ordinances and regulations is not enough to justify a valid warrantless search and seizure, especially when the penalty does not involve imprisonment, the Supreme Court (SC) ruled.

In a 13-page decision, the SC Second Division acquitted Angelito Ridon of illegal possession of firearms as the firearm seized from him was deemed inadmissible.

“Under the circumstances, the warrantless search and seizure of the firearm from Angelito is deemed invalid,” the SC said. 

“Following the exclusionary rule, the illegality of the search and seizure means that there is no admissible evidence left to convict Angelito,” it added.

According to the SC, Ridon was on a motorcycle in August 2013 when police officers ordered him to stop because he was turning into a one-way street.

Instead of stopping, however, Ridon took a u-turn.

The police officers pursued him. When he fell, the Court said he seemingly reached for something at his side, causing authorities to aim their firearms at him.

One of the cops frisked him and recovered a revolver without a serial number.

For his part, Ridon denied the allegations and claimed that he saw the gun for the first time at the police station.

In 2018, a regional trial court convicted Ridon of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. The Court of Appeals later affirmed his conviction, stating that the warrantless search was valid as part of a lawful arrest.

In its ruling, however, the SC deemed the search invalid and said that the warrantless search was not incidental to a lawful arrest.

The SC said that for a in flagrante delicto arrest to be valid, the person to be arrested must execute an overt act indicating that he has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit a crime; and the overt act is done in the presence or within the view of the arresting officer.

However, the SC said that authorities only discovered the firearm after searching Ridon.

“Put simply, the arresting officers were not yet aware that Angelito was carrying a firearm when they decided to search him,” the SC said.

Further, the court said that police did not intend to arrest Ridon as the penalty of entering a one-way street is not imprisonment.

“Angelito’s act of drawing something from his waist does not constitute a reasonable suspicious circumstance. Neither the RTC nor the CA found that the police officers observed any distinct bulge or contour that could have led them to believe that what Angelito was about to draw was a gun,” the SC said.

“Thus their decision to conduct a warrantless search on Angelito was based only on a hunch— not on a reasonable suspicion,” it added.

The decision was promulgated in December 2023 but published only on Monday. — BM, GMA Integrated News