G.R. No 189980
People vs. Alberto Bacus Alcuizar
April 6, 2011
Facts:
Appellant Alcuizar was charged with violation of Sections 5
(illegal sale), 6 (maintaining a drug den), 11 (illegal possession) and 12
(illegal possession of dangerous drug paraphernalia) of Republic Act No. 9165 a
buy bust operation and a search on his home by virtue of a warrant led by a
SPO1 Agadier.
Present during the search
were appellant,
appellant’s sister-in-law, one barangay captain, one barangay tanod, and several photographers.
In the
RTC, appellant was acquitted in all charges except for his violation of Section
11 or illegal possession of dangerous drug as evidenced by the stic packs of
shabu found in his room.
Appellant
questions the veracity of the seized item by virtue of the Chain of Custody
rule. Appellant cites the failure of the police in marking the evidence immediately after purportedly taking
it from him as well as the failure of the police officers to give or leave a
copy of the inventory receipt upon the accused or any of his family members.
CA finds the
appellant’s contention meritorious.
Ruling:
The gaps in the chain of custody (i.e the
transfer of custody, control and custody of the shabu, and the marking of the
shabu) affected the identity of the corpus delicti.
To
successfully prosecute a case of illegal possession of dangerous drugs, the
following elements must be established: (1) the accused is in possession of an
item or object which is identified to be a prohibited drug; (2) such possession
is not authorized by law; and (3) the accused freely and consciously possessed
the said drug.
The doubt
created by the gaps in the custody, the testimonies and the lack of witnesses
to prove that the prohibited drugs were found in appellant’s home constrained
the Court to acquit appellant.
