Case Digest (G.R. No. 122954)
Facts:
Norberto Feria y Pacquing v. The Court of Appeals, et al., G.R. No. 122954, February 15, 2000, Supreme Court Second Division, Quisumbing, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner Norberto Feria y Pacquing has been in custody since May 21, 1981, after conviction for Robbery with Homicide in Criminal Case No. 60677 by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Manila, Branch 2, for the jeepney hold-up and killing of a United States Peace Corps volunteer. In June 1993 petitioner sought transfer from the Manila City Jail to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in Muntinlupa but the Jail Warden required submission of the mittimus, decision, and information; respondents discovered that the complete trial records, including the judgment, were missing and later learned the files were destroyed in the Manila City Hall fire of November 3, 1986.On October 3, 1994 petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the Supreme Court against the Jail Warden, the Presiding Judge of RTC-Manila Branch 2, and the City Prosecutor of Manila, alleging that his continued detention without a copy of a valid written judgment violated due process and Rules of Court requirements (notably Rule 120, Secs. 1–2). By Resolution dated October 10, 1994 the Court issued the writ, ordered raffle among RTC-Manila judges and required respondents to produce petitioner; the case was raffled to RTC-Manila, Branch 9.
After hearing, RTC-Manila, Branch 9 on November 15, 1994 dismissed the habeas corpus petition, holding that loss of records does not invalidate a judgment and that the proper remedy was reconstitution of the records. Petitioner appealed to the Court of Appeals, which on April 28, 1995 affirmed the trial court’s dismissal but, in the interest of orderly administration and under the peculiar facts, allowed petitioner’s transfer to BuCor without submission of the missing mittimus, decision and information, without prejudice to reconstitution of the original records. The Court of Appeals denied petitioner’s motion for reconsideration on December 1, 1995. Petitioner then filed this ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether, under the peculiar circumstances where the trial records of conviction were lost, petitioner’s continued incarceration is illegal.
- Whether the duty to initiate reconstitution of lost or destroyed judicial records rests on the government custodians of the records or on the pris...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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