Case Summary (G.R. No. 232437)
Key Dates
Surveillance Period: Two weeks before November 27, 2002
Buy-bust Operation: November 27, 2002, around 2:00 p.m.
RTC Decision: March 9, 2007
CA Decision: June 13, 2011
SC Decision: October 19, 2016
Applicable Law
1987 Constitution, Art. III, § 14 (presumption of innocence)
Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002),
• § 5 (illegal sale of dangerous drugs)
• § 11 (illegal possession of dangerous drugs)
IRR of RA 9165, Art. II, § 21 (chain of custody requirements)
Rules of Court, Rule 120, § 4 (variance between allegation and proof)
Facts of the Case
A two-week surveillance confirmed Reyes’s alleged drug-pushing. On November 27, 2002, Villahermosa and Miro approached Reyes’s house for a buy-bust. Reyes allegedly handed one plastic pack of white crystalline substance (shabu) in exchange for ₱1,000 marked money. Upon signal, arresting officers frisked Reyes and recovered two additional packs. All three packs, marked “JR-B,” “JR-1,” and “JR-2,” totaling 1.44 grams, were submitted to the crime laboratory and tested positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride.
Procedural History
Reyes pleaded not guilty. The RTC convicted him under § 5, RA 9165, sentenced him to life imprisonment and ₱500,000 fine, and ordered destruction of the confiscated drugs. On appeal, the CA affirmed, finding both essential elements of illegal sale established and the chain of custody intact.
Issue
Did the prosecution prove beyond reasonable doubt (a) the illegal sale of shabu and (b) an unbroken chain of custody of the seized drugs?
Elements of Illegal Sale
Under § 5, RA 9165, the prosecution must establish:
- Identity of buyer and seller, object and consideration;
- Delivery of the drug and receipt of payment.
Testimony proved delivery and payment only for the pack marked “JR-B.”
Separate Offense of Possession
The two additional packs (“JR-1,” “JR-2”) were recovered only by frisking, without corresponding sale or payment. They could support illegal possession under § 11, RA 9165, but no separate information was filed.
Chain of Custody Requirement
Because the dangerous drug is the corpus delicti, its identity and integrity must be preserved through:
- Immediate inventory and photography of seized items in the presence of the accused (or counsel), media and DOJ representatives, and an elected public official;
- Marking of items as close to the point and time of seizure as practicable;
- Continuous custody from seizure to presentation in court.
Procedural Lapses in Chain of Custody
• Markings were placed later at the police station, not “immediately” at seizure. Witnesses gave inconsistent accounts of who marked the packs.
• No credible showing that Reyes or the required third-party witnesses were present at marking.
• No inventory report or photographs of the seized packs.
• Absence of media/DOJ representatives and elected official at seizure and inventory.
• Prosecution offered no justification for these lapses or reliance on the IRR’s saving clause.
Presumptions of Regularity and Innocence
While police officers enjoy a rebuttable presumption of regular performance of duty, any hint of
Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 232437)
The Case
- Appeal from the Court of Appeals’ decision in CA-G.R. CEB CR-H.C. No. 00792, June 13, 2011
- Originated from RTC, Branch 10, Cebu City, Judgment of March 9, 2007, convicting Jehar Reyes for violation of Section 5, Article II of RA 9165 (Illegal Sale of Dangerous Drugs)
- Supreme Court granted review to determine whether conviction should stand or be set aside
Antecedents
- Information alleged that on November 27, 2002 at about 2:00 p.m. in Minglanilla, Cebu, accused-appellant Jehar Reyes sold to poseur-buyer Philippine currency worth ₱1,000.00 three silver paper packets containing white crystalline substance (1.44g) later tested positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride
- Accused pleaded not guilty
Trial Proceedings and Evidence
- Prosecution witnesses: PO2 Villahermosa (poseur-buyer), PO1 Miro (poseur-buyer), PSINSP Banzon, PO3 Lumayag (backup), P03 Mendoza (forensic analyst)
- Defense witnesses: accused Jehar Reyes and neighbor Cesar Canada
- Buy-bust operation:
- Two-week surveillance confirmed drug-pushing activities of Reyes
- Villahermosa and Miro approached Reyes’s house, negotiated sale, exchanged marked buy-bust money for one packet of “shabu”
- Pre-arranged signal (cap removal) alerted backup team who effected arrest
- Subsequent frisk of Reyes yielded two additional packets of white crystalline substance and the buy-bust money
- Laboratory examination by Mendoza: three packets tested positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride (Chemistry Report No. D-2390-2002)
RTC Ruling
- March 9, 2007: Convicted Reyes of illegal sale under Section 5, Article II of RA 9165
- Sentence: Life imprisonment and fine of ₱500,000.00
- Ordered confiscation and destruction of the three packets of methamphetamine h