Case Digest (G.R. No. 50720)
Facts:
Soriano Mata v. Hon. Josephine K. Bayona, G.R. No. L-50720, March 26, 1984, the Supreme Court Second Division, De Castro, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner Soriano Mata was charged in Criminal Case No. 4298-CC under Presidential Decree No. 810, as amended by PD 1306, with unlawfully selling and arranging bets on the jai-alai "masiao" lottery. Respondent Hon. Josephine K. Bayona was the presiding judge of the City Court of Ormoc; respondents Bernardo Goles and Reynaldo Mayote were members of the Intelligence Section of the 352nd PC Company and served as the complainants/witnesses supporting the application for a search warrant.The City Court of Ormoc issued a search warrant authorizing seizure of "masiao" tickets and related paraphernalia. Petitioner contended the warrant was defective because it rested only on an application and a joint affidavit purportedly sworn before the Clerk of Court rather than on the judge's own examination of applicants and witnesses. Petitioner asserted no written depositions were taken by the judge, and the papers incident to the warrant were not attached to the criminal case record; certified copies of the affidavits he later obtained bore no judicial certification.
Petitioner filed a motion to quash and annul the search warrant and for the return of the seized articles, invoking Section 4 of Rule 126 of the Rules of Court. Respondent Judge denied the motion on March 1, 1979, ruling she had thoroughly examined the complainants under oath and certifying such examination, and held that the timing of attachment of documents to the records was immaterial. A motion for reconsideratio...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the search warrant valid when the issuing judge allegedly failed to personally examine the complainant and witnesses under oath, take their depositions in writing, and attach those depositions to the record as required by the Constitution and Section 4, Rule 126?
- If the search warrant was invalid, should the things seized under it be ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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