MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has acquitted a man convicted by a Makati court of illegal firearms possession after being apprehended by authorities for a traffic violation.
In a news release Monday, the court stressed that simply violating ordinances and regulations is not enough to justify a valid warrantless search and seizure, especially when the penalty does not involve imprisonment.
In the decision penned by Associate Justice Mario Lopez, the hig court’s Second Division acquitted Angelito Ridon after it ruled that the firearm seized from him is inadmissible because it was the result of an illegal search and seizure.
Based on records, Ridon was driving a motorcycle in Barangay Comembo, Makati City when police officers ordered him to stop as he was turning onto a one-way street. Instead of stopping, Ridon made a U-turn.
The police officers, along with a Bantay Bayan (village watchman), pursued and cornered Ridon. When frisked, he yielded a revolver without a serial number. The police officers then arrested him.
The lower court convicted Ridon of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition.
The Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction, stating that the warrantless search on Ridon was valid as part of a lawful arrest after he sped away from the police officers.
“Searches and seizures without a warrant may be allowed if they are part of a lawful arrest under Rule 126, Section 13 of the Rules of Court. However, a lawful arrest must first be conducted before a warrantless search and seizure can be done,” the SC said.
The SC noted that the police officers’ basis for pursuing Ridon was his violation of traffic rules for entering a one-way street.
“A traffic violation, however, does not call for an arrest but merely the confiscation of the driver’s license. Hence, regardless of Ridon’s guilt in entering the one-way street, he was not under arrest when the police officers pursued him,” the court said.
“As there was no valid arrest, the warrantless search done on Ridon after was also not valid,” it said.
As the search and seizure done on Ridon was illegal, the firearm seized from him was inadmissible in court.
With no other admissible evidence left, the SC acquitted Ridon. (PNA)