By: Audie B.

Rojas
FINALS NOTES COURT TESTIMONY

SUMMARY OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE:

a) Commission of a crime – rules in criminal jurisdiction comes into play s to what court should take
cognizance of the act, whether the elements and requisites of valid exercise are present;

b) Arrest of the Accused or Issuance of Search Warrant – Manner of applying for warrant of arrest and search
warrant and incidental matters thereto; Rule 113 & 126
1. Issuance of warrant of arrest and search warrant;
2. Service of Warrant and Search Warrant;
3. Warrantless Arrest and Warrantless Search;

c) Custodial Investigation – application of Miranda rights and the Escobedo doctrine and other concomitant
rights of a person under investigation for an offense;

d) Preliminary Investigation – and its procedural requirements;

e) Filing of a complaint or information in the court including:

1. Prosecution of Criminal action and required Form and Substance of complaint or information;
2. Rules on Amendments, Substitution and Venue of criminal action;
3. Prosecution of civil action arising from the crime and independent civil action + prejudicial question.

f) Application to Admit Bail and related rules and also in relation to hold departure order (HDO);

g) Motion to Quash by the accused and double jeopardy;

h) Arraignment and Plea of the accused and plea bargaining;

i) Pre-trial and its procedural requirements;

j) Trial and the Speedy Trial Act of 1991 and the Rights of the Accused during the trial;

k) Remedies Available During Trial including demurrer to evidence and discharge to be a state witness;

l) Judgment by the court and promulgation of decision;

m) Remedies of the accused and after judgment including new trial and reconsideration and automatic
review;
n) Execution of Service of Sentence by the convict;
complaint or information.

FORM
1. In writing;
2. In the name of the People of the Philippines; and
3. Against all persons who appear to be responsible for the offense involved.
Section 3. Complaint defined.

A Complaint is:
1. a sworn written statement;
2. charging a person with an offense;
3. subscribed by the offended party, any peace officer or other public officer charged with the
enforcement of the law violated.

The complaint mentioned in this section refers to one filed in court for the commencement of a criminal
prosecution for violation of a crime, usually cognizable by municipal trial courts as well as to a complaint filed
by an offended party in private crimes or those which cannot be prosecuted de officio.
By: Audie B. Rojas

REQUISITES OF A COMPLAINT:
1. it must be in writing and under oath;
2. it must be in the name of the People of the Philippines;
3. it must charge a person with an offense; and
4. it must be subscribed by the offended party, by any peace officer or public officer charged with the
enforcement of the law violated.

PERSONS WHO CAN FILE A COMPLAINT

1. Offended party
2. Any peace officer
3. Other public officer charged with the enforcement of the law violated
ex. Internal Revenue Officer for violation of the NIRC, custom agents with respect to violations of the
Tariff and Customs Code

Section 4. Information defined.

An Information is:
1. an accusation in writing;
2. charging a person with an offense;
3. subscribed by the prosecutor and filed with the court.

REQUISITES OF AN INFORMATION
1. it must be in writing;
2. it must charge a person with an offense;
3. it must be subscribed by the fiscal; and
4. it must be filed in court.
Prosecution in the RTC are always commenced by information, EXCEPT:
1. in certain crimes against chastity (concubinage, adultery, seduction, abduction, acts of lasciviousness);
and
2. defamations imputing any of the aforesaid offenses wherein a sworn written complaint is required in
accordance with section 5 of this Rule.

Section 5. Who must prosecute criminal actions.

FULL DISCRETION AND CONTROL OF THE PROSECUTOR
All criminal actions commenced by a complaint or information shall be prosecuted under the direction and
control of the prosecutor.

A PRIVATE PROSECUTOR may be authorized to prosecute a criminal action subject to the following conditions:
1. the public prosecutor has a heavy work schedule, or there is no public prosecutor assigned in the
province or city;
2. the private prosecutor is authorized IN WRITING by the Regional State Prosecutor (RSP), Provincial or
City Prosecutor;
3. the authority of the private prosecutor must be approved by the court;
4. the private prosecutor shall continue to prosecute the case until the end of the trial unless the
authority is withdrawn or otherwise revoked by the RSP, Provincial or City Prosecutor; and
5. In case of the withdrawal or revocation of the authority of the private prosecutor, the same must be
approved by court.
(Memo Circ. No. 25, April 26, 2002, Regarding Amendment to Sec. 5, Rule 110)
By: Audie B. Rojas
RULE 116
ARRAIGNMENT AND PLEA

Section 1. Arraignment and plea; how made.

Arraignment – the formal mode of implementing the constitutional right of the accused to be informed of the
nature of the accusation against him.

WHERE AND HOW MADE:

1. Before the court where the complaint or information has been filed or assigned for trial;
2. in open court, by the judge or clerk by furnishing the accused a copy of the complaint or information
with the list of the witnesses, reading it in a language or dialect known to him and asking him of his
plea;

RULES:
1. Trial in absentia is allowed only AFTER arraignment;
2. Judgment is generally void if the accused has not been arraigned;
3. There can be no arraignment in absentia (accused must personally enter his plea);
4. if the accused went to trial without arraignment, but his counsel had the opportunity to cross-examine
the witness of the prosecution and after the prosecution he was arraigned the defect was cured;

If an information is amended MATERIALLY, arraignment on the amended information is MANDATORY, except if

the amendment is only as to form

PRE-TRIAL

Section 1. Pre-trial; mandatory in criminal cases.

Pre-trial is MANDATORY in all criminal cases.

The court shall after arraignment and within 30 days from the time the court acquires jurisdiction over the
person of the accused, unless a shorter period is provided for by special laws or circular of the Supreme Court,
order a pre-trial.

MATTERS CONSIDERED IN PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE

a) plea bargaining;
b) stipulation of facts;
c) marking for identification of evidence of the parties;
d) waiver of objections to admissibility of evidence;
e) modification of the order of trial if the accused admits the charge but interposes a lawful defense;
such matters as will promote a fair and expeditious trial of the criminal and civil aspects of the case. (Sections.
2 & 3, Circ. 38-98)

TRIAL

Section 1. Time to prepare for trial.

Trial - the examination before a competent tribunal according to the laws of the land, of the facts put in issue
in a case for the purpose of determining such issue.

The trial shall commence within 30 days from receipt of the pre-trial order.
By: Audie B. Rojas

Section 2. Continuous trial until terminated; postponements.

CONTINUOUS TRIAL SYSTEM

Trial once commenced shall continue from day to day as far as practicable until terminated; but it may be
postponed for a reasonable period of time for good cause.

LIMITATION OF THE TRIAL PERIOD

It shall in no case exceed 180 days from the first day of the trial, except as otherwise provided by the Supreme
Court.

Requisites before a trial can be put-off on account of the absence of a witness:

1. that the witness is material and appears to the court to be so
2. that the party who applies has been guilty of no neglect
3. that the witnesses can be had at the time to which the trial is deferred and incidentally that no similar
evidence could be obtained
4. that an affidavit showing the existence of the above circumstances must be filed.

Section 11. Order of Trial

ORDER OF TRIAL:
1. The prosecution shall present evidence to prove the charge and, in the proper case, the civil liability
2. The accused may present evidence to prove his defense and damages, if any, arising from the issuance
of a provisional remedy in the case.
3. The prosecution and the defense may, in that order, present rebuttal and sur-rebuttal evidence unless
the court, in furtherance of justice, permits them to present additional evidence bearing upon the main
issue
4. Upon admission of the evidence of the parties, the case shall be deemed submitted for decision unless
the court directs them to argue orally or to submit written memoranda.
5. When the accused admits the act or omission charged in the complaint or information but interposes a
lawful defense, the order of trial may be modified.

GENERAL RULE:
The order in the presentation of evidence must be followed. The accused may not be required to present his
evidence first before the prosecution adduces its own proof.
EXCEPTION:
Where a reverse procedure was adopted without the objection of the defendant and such procedure did not
prejudice his substantial rights, the defect is not a reversible error.

A departure from the order of the trial is not reversible error as where it was agreed upon or not seasonably
objected to, but not where the change in the order of the trial was timely objected by the defense.

Where the order of the trial set forth under this section was not followed by the court to the extent of denying
the prosecution an opportunity to present its evidence, the judgment is a nullity. (People vs. Balisacan)

SECTION 12. APPLICATION FOR EXAMINATION OF WITNESS FOR ACCUSED BEFORE TRIAL.

Accused may have his witness examined conditionally in his behalf BEFORE trial upon motion with notice to all
other parties.
The motion must state:
1. name and residence of witness
2. substance of testimony
By: Audie B. Rojas
3. witness is so sick to afford reasonable ground to believe that he will not be able to attend the trial or
resides more that 100 km and has no means to attend the same, or other similar circumstances exist
that would make him unavailable or prevent him from attending trial.

SECTION 13. EXAMINATION OF DEFENSE WITNESS; HOW MADE.

If the court is satisfied that the examination of witness is necessary as provided in SECTION 4, order shall be
made and a copy served on the fiscal.

The examination shall be taken before any judge or if not practicable any member of the Bar in good standing
designated by the trial court, or by a lower court designated by a court of superior jurisdiction which issue the
order.

SECTION 15. EXAMINATION OF WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION.

The conditional examination of prosecution witnesses shall be conducted before the judge or the court where
the case is pending and in the presence of the accused, unless he waived his right after reasonable notice. The
accused will have the right to cross-examine such prosecution witness, hence such statements of the
prosecution witnesses may thereafter be admissible in behalf of or against the accused (Regalado, p. 460).

RULE 120

JUDGMENT

SECTION 1. JUDGMENT; DEFINITION AND FORM.

Judgment - the adjudication by the court that the accused is guilty or not guilty of the offense charged and the
imposition of the proper penalty and civil liability provided for by the law.

It is not necessary that the judge who tried the case be the same judicial officer to decide it. It is sufficient if he
be apprised of the evidence already presented by a reading of the transcript of the testimonies already
introduced, in the same manner as appellate courts review evidence on appeal.
Section 2. Contents of the judgment.

Judgment must be
1. in writing;
2. in the official language,
3. personally and directly prepared and signed by the judge,
4. with a concise statement of the fact and the law on which it is based.

Section 6. Promulgation of judgment.

Promulgation of judgment - official proclamation or announcement of judgment. It consists of reading the

judgment or sentence in the presence of the accused and any judge of the court rendering the judgment.

RULES ON THE VALIDITY OF PROMULGATION OF JUDGMENT:

1. The judgment must have been rendered and promulgated during the incumbency of the judge who
signed it.
The presence of counsel during the promulgation of judgment is not necessary