FUNDAMENTAL OF

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
REVIEW 2020
 ARREST DEFINED

• TAKING OF A PERSON INTO

CUSTODY

• ANSWER FOR THE COMMISSION OF

AN OFFENSE
 Methods of Arrest:
• With Warrant of Arrest – The officer shall inform
the person to be arrested of the cause of the
arrest and of the fact that a warrant has been
issued for his arrest. The officer need not have
the warrant in his possession at the time of the
arrest, but after the arrest if the arrested person
so requires, the warrant shall be shown to him as
soon as practicable ( Rule 113, Sec 7 )
• Without a Warrant of Arrest – The police
officer shall inform the person to be arrested
of his authority and the cause of the arrest,
unless the latter is engaged in the
commission of an offense, is pursued
immediately after its commission, has
escaped, flees, or forcibly resist before the
officer has the opportunity to inform him, or
when the giving of the information will imperil
the arrest ( Rule 113, Sec 8 )
 ARREST WITHOUT A WARRANT : WHEN LAWFUL ( Sec 5 Rule 113 ) A
peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant arrest a person:

• a. When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has

committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to
commit an offense ( in flagrante exception );
• b. When an offense has just been committed and he has
probable cause to believe based on personal
knowledge of facts or circumstances that the person to
be arrested has committed it ( hot pursuit exception );
and
• c. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner
who has escaped from a penal establishment or
place where he is serving final judgment or is
temporarily confined while his case is pending, or
has escaped while being transferred from one
confinement to another ( escapee exception ).
• Note: Probable Cause means “ An Actual Belief
“or “Reasonable Grounds Of Suspicion”
Reasonable Suspicion therefore, must be founded
on probable cause, coupled with good faith on the
part of the police officer making the arrest.
Personal
Knowledge of facts in arrest without warrant must
be based on reasonable grounds of suspicion.

Reliable information alone, in the absence of any

overt act indicative of a felonious enterprise in the
presence of and within the view of the arresting
 • METHOD OF ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT

1.Arrest by an officer – When making an arrest without a warrant,

the officer shall inform the person to be arrested of his (a)
authority, and (b) the cause of the arrest.
•This information need not be given (a) if the person to be
arrested is engaged in the commission of an offense, (b) is in the
process of being pursued immediately after the commission, (c)
escapes or flees, or (d) forcibly resist before the officer has the
opportunity to so inform him, or (e) when the giving of such
information will imperil the arrest (Sec 8, Rule 113, Rules of Court).
The rules applicable to an arrest with a warrant also apply to an
arrest without warrant. Hence, the officer may summon assistance
to effect the arrest, break into a building or an enclosure or break
out from the same.
2. Arrest by a private person – (citizen’s arrest)
when a private person makes an arrest, he shall
inform the person to be arrested not of his
authority to arrest, but of his intention to arrest him
and the cause of his arrest.

3. Where a warrantless arrest is made under the

in flagrante and hot pursuit exceptions, the person
arrested without a warrant shall be forthwith
delivered to the nearest police station or jail.
 TIME OF MAKING AN ARREST

•An arrest may be made on any day and at any time of the day or
night (Sec 6, Rule 113, Rules of Court)
 
• RIGHTS OF A PERSON ARRESTED
1.The rights of a person arrested, detained or under custodial
investigation are spelled out by RA 7438. These rights are:
a.The right to be assisted by a counsel at all times;
b.The right to remain silent;
c.The right to be informed of the above rights
d.The right to be visited by the immediate members of his family,
by his counsel, or by any non-governmental organization,
national or international.
2. The counsel must be one is independent and
competent.
3. In the absence of a lawyer, no custodial investigation
shall be conducted and the suspected person can only
be detained by the investigating officer in accordance
with the provisions of Art 125, RPC. Also, any waiver,
shall be in writing, and signed by the person arrested,
detained or under custodial investigation in the
presence of his counsel, otherwise the waiver shall be
null and void and of no effect.
4. Any extrajudicial confession made shall also be in
writing and signed by the person, detained or under
custodial investigation in the presence of his counsel,
or in the latter’s absence, upon a valid waiver, and in
the presence of any of the parents, older brothers
and sisters, his spouse, the municipal mayor, the
municipal judge, district school supervisor, or priest or
minister of the gospel as chosen by him; otherwise
such extrajudicial confession shall be inadmissible as
evidence in any proceedings.
• 
 • BUY BUST OPERATIONS
1.A buy bust operation is a form of entrapment legally
employed by peace officers as an effective way of
apprehending drug dealers in the act of committing
an offense.
2.A search warrant or warrant or arrest is not needed
in a buy-bust operation because the accused is
caught in flagrante delicto.
 • ENTRAPMENT AND INSTIGATION
1. Entrapment is the employment of such ways and
means for the purpose of trapping or capturing a
lawbreaker.
• Instigation, on the other hand is the means by which
the accused is lured into the commission of the
offense charged in order to prosecute him. Instigation
presupposes that the criminal intent to commit an
offense originated from the inducer and not the
accused who had no intention to commit the crime.
• In entrapment, the criminal intent to commit the
offense charged originates in the mind of the
accused; the law enforcement officials merely
facilitate the apprehension of the criminal by
employing ruses and schemes. In instigation, the
law enforcers act as active principals. Instigation
leads to the acquittal of the accused, while
entrapment does not bar prosecution and
conviction.
 SEARCH WARRANT DEFINED
• Order in writing issued in the name of
the People of the Philippines
• Signed by a judge and directed to a
peace officer
• Commanding him to search for a
personal property described therein and
bring it before the court
• NOTE: A search warrant is not a criminal action
nor does it represent a commencement of a
criminal prosecution. It is not a proceeding
against a person but is solely for the discovery and
to get possession of personal property. A search
warrant is a police weapon issued under the
police power. It has no relation to a civil process.
• The power to issue search warrants is
exclusively vested with the trial judges in the
exercise of their judicial functions.
• 
 PROSECUTION OF OFFENSES
 
• Purpose of Criminal Action
• The purpose of criminal action, in its purest sense,
is to determine the penal liability of the accused for
having outraged the state with his crime and, if he
found guilty, to punish him for it. In this sense, the
parties to the action are the People of the Philippines
and the accused. The offended party is regarded
merely as the witness of the state.
 How Criminal Actions are Instituted
• 1. The institution of criminal action generally
depends upon whether or not the offense is one
which requires a preliminary investigation.
• Where a preliminary investigation is required,
a criminal action is instituted by filing the
complaint with the proper officer for the
purpose of conducting the requisite
preliminary investigation.
• 2. Where a preliminary investigation is
not required, a criminal action is
instituted in either of two ways:
• a. By filing the complaint or
information directly with the
Municipal Trial Court and Municipal
Circuit Trial Court; or
• b. By filing the complaint with the
office of the prosecutor.
• 
• A preliminary investigation is to be conducted for
offenses where the penalty prescribed by law is
at least four (4) years, two (2) months and one (1)
day. The Regional Trial Court has jurisdiction
over an offense punishable with imprisonment of
more than six (6) years, a period way above the
minimum penalty for an offense that requires
preliminary investigation. On the other hand, the
Municipal Trial Court has exclusive jurisdiction
over offenses punishable with imprisonment not
exceeding six (6) years.
• 
 THE COMPLAINT AND INFORMATION
• Meaning of complaint
• A complaint is a sworn written statement charging a person with
an offense, subscribed by the offended party, any peace officer,
or other public officer, charged with the enforcement of the law
violated.
• The complaint is not filed in the name of a private person,
natural or juridical. It is filed in the name of the People of the
Philippines and is filed against all persons who appear to be
responsible for the offense involved.
• Private offended parties have limited roles in criminal cases.
They are only witnesses for the prosecution.
• Meaning of Information
• An information is an accusation in writing
charging a person with an offense subscribed by
the prosecutor and filed with the court.
• While an information is an accusation in writing, it
is not required to be “sworn” unlike a complaint.
Only a public officer described by the Rules of
Court as a “Prosecutor” is authorized to subscribe
to the information
• 
 PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION VS.
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
• A preliminary investigation is conducted by the prosecutor to
ascertain whether the alleged offender should be held for trial,
to be subjected to the expense, rigors and embarrassment of
trial or if the offender is to be released. A preliminary inquiry or
a preliminary examination is conducted by the judge to
determine the probable cause for the issuance of a warrant of
arrest.
• Preliminary investigation is executive in nature. It is part of the
prosecutor’s job. Preliminary examination is judicial in nature
and is lodged with the judge.