VILLANUEVA VS PEOPLE

FACTS:
Petitioner Danila Villanueva was charged with a violation of
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act for having in his
possession grams of shabu. The prosecution states that four
witnesses testified that a complaint was files by Brian Resco
against Danilo for allegedly shooting the former. Police officers
then proceeded to the house of Villanueva and informed him
about the complaint, thereafter inviting him to the police station.
He was subjected to a body search and in the process was found
to have shabu in his left pocket. According to Danilo,
meanwhile, he was at home watching tv when the police officers
invited him to go with them to the police station. Informed that
he had been identified as responsible for shooting Resco, Danilo
was then frisked and detained at the police station.

ISSUE:
WON a waiver of an illegal arrest is also a waiver of an illegal
search

RULING:
No. A waiver of an illegal arrest, however, is not a waiver of an
illegal search. Records have established that both the arrest and
the search were made without a warrant. While the accused has
already waived his right to contest the legality of his arrest, he is
not deemed to have equally waived his right to contest the
legality of the search.

Jurisprudence is replete with pronouncements on when a

warrantless search can be conducted. These searches include:
search of a moving vehicle; seizure in plain view; customs
search; waiver or consented search; stop-and-frisk situation;
search incidental to a lawful arrest and exigent and emergency
circumstance. The search made was not among the enumerated
instances. Certainly, it was not of a moving vehicle, a customs
search, or a search incidental to a lawful arrest. There could not
have been a seizure in plain view as the seized item was
allegedly found inside the left pocket of accused-appellant’s
pants. Neither was it a stop-and-frisk situation. While this type
may seemingly fall under the consented search exception, we
reiterate that consent to a search is not to be lightly inferred, but
shown by clear and convincing evidence.