Case Digest (G.R. No. L-22554)
Case Digest (G.R. No. L-22554)
Facts:
Delfin Lim and Jikil Taha v. Francisco Ponce de Leon and Orlando Maddela, G.R. No. L-22554, August 29, 1975, the Supreme Court First Division, Martin, J., writing for the Court. Plaintiffs-appellants Delfin Lim and Jikil Taha sued defendants-appellees Fiscal Francisco Ponce de Leon (Acting Provincial Fiscal of Palawan) and Orlando Maddela (Detachment Commander, Balabac, Palawan) for damages arising from the seizure of a motor launch called M/L “SAN RAFAEL.”On April 29, 1961 Jikil Taha sold the motor launch to Alberto Timbangcaya. On April 9, 1962 Timbangcaya complained to the Provincial Fiscal that Taha had forcibly taken the launch back. After a preliminary investigation, Fiscal Ponce de Leon filed an information for robbery with force and intimidation on May 14, 1962 (Criminal Case No. 2719). Upon learning the launch was in Balabac, the fiscal on June 15 and again on June 26, 1962, requested the Provincial Commander to impound the vessel as corpus delicti.
Acting on the Provincial Commander’s order, Orlando Maddela seized and impounded the motor launch from Delfin Lim on July 6, 1962. Lim and Taha made repeated representations (July 15 and September 20, 1962) for its return, which were refused on the ground that the launch was the subject of a criminal case. On November 19, 1962 Lim and Taha filed a civil action for damages in the Court of First Instance of Palawan alleging an unlawful, warrantless entry and seizure, and claimed actual, moral and exemplary damages and attorney’s fees.
Defendants denied the material allegations, pleaded that the launch was the corpus delicti of robbery and that the fiscal had authority to order its impounding, and counterclaimed for attorney’s fees and damages. On September 13, 1965 the trial court upheld the seizure as valid, dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint, and awarded each defendant P500 actual damages, P500 for attorney’s fees and P1,000 exemplary damages. Plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court by way of an appeal on a question of law.
Issues:
- Under the Constitution then in force, did Acting Provincial Fiscal Francisco Ponce de Leon have power to order the seizure of the motor launch without a search warrant even though it was alleged to be the corpus delicti of a crime?
- If the seizure was unlawful, are defendants-appellees civilly liable to plaintiffs-appellants for damages, and to what extent?
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)