Defective search warrant sets shabu accused free

Because of a defective search warrant, a court cleared a man from the charges of possession of illegal drugs.

Regional Trial Court Branch 12 Judge Estela Alma Singco said Wenceslao Colina could not be convicted of the crime he was charged with because the warrant used to arrest him was “grossly infirmed,” as it failed to describe the place to be searched with “sufficient particularity.”

“The constitutional requirement is a description which particularly points to a definitely ascertainable place, so as to exclude all others. In the case at bar, the search warrant issued by the court merely referred to accused’ residence as East Capitol, Capitol Site, Cebu City, without specifying the exact address,” Singco said.

While stating that the subject allegedly violated the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, the search warrant failed to specify the particular section being infringed, making it a general warrant and “totally null and void.”

Aside from these, the illegal drugs reportedly recovered from Colina’s residence were not mentioned in the warrant, thus Singco said the seizure was beyond the police officers’ authority.

Authorities enforced the search warrant in Colina’s house late evening on July 2, 1998 and reportedly confiscated five plastic packets of shabu. However, because the search warrant was defective, the court considered these pieces of evidence as “fruits of the poisonous tree.”

“The evident purpose and intent of the requirement is to limit the things to be seized to those, and only those, particularly described in the search warrant, to leave the officers of the law with no discretion regarding what articles they should seize to the end that unreasonable searches and seizures may not be made and that abuses may not be committed,” Singco said. — Joeberth M. Ocao/LPM