PROJECT

IN

FUNDAMENTALS OF CRIMINAL

INVESTIGATION AND INTELLIGENCE

S.Y.2021-2022

Submitted By:

John Gil M. Razo

Submitted To:

Mr. Christian E. Madridano

INTRODUCTION

When a policeman knocks on your door and wants to search your house, will you let him in? If

you are standing in a street, can a policeman just search through your belongings? The answer is

no, unless he is armed with a search warrant.

 No less than Art. III, Section 2 of the Constitution holds inviolable our rights to be secure in our

persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures.  Thus, subject to

certain exceptions, we cannot be subjected to search by police authorities in the absence of a

search warrant.

Warrantless searches are searches and seizures conducted without court-issued search warrants.

A warrantless search is allowed if the officers had reasonable or probable cause to believe before

the search that either the motorist is a law offender, or that they did find the evidence pertaining

to the commission of a crime in the vehicle to be searched. Search warrants may authorize police

to search specific, named people found at the targeted location. However, officers executing a

search warrant may detain anyone present during the search. Furthermore, if officers find

sufficient evidence to arrest someone present, they may arrest and search that person, even if the

person was not listed on the warrant.

In this paper the researchers aim to make the readers understand the warrantless searches and

seizures, definition of terms. This paper gives the information about response and procedure in

conducting warrantless searches and seizures to provide knowledge to the next generations who

will search with warrantless and seizures.

Definition of Terms

o Validity of Search Warrant - The search shall be valid for ten days from date of Nuance

and may be served at any day within the said period.

o Valid Warrantless Searches and Seizures - Search made Incidental to a valid arrest.

o Requirements of Plain View Doctrine - The law enforcement officer must have prior

justification for an intrusion or, otherwise, must be in a position from which he can view

particular area.

o Search Warrant - It is an order in writing issued in the name of the People of the

Philippines, it is signed by a judge and directed to a peace officer.

Discussion

Validity of Search Warrant- The search shall be valid for ten days from date of Nuance and may

be served at any day within the said period. Thereafter, it shall be void. In the implementation of

the search warrant, its object or purpose and be accomplished in one day. the search can/will be

continued the following day or days, until completed provided at is still within the ten day of

validity period of the search warrant. If the object or purpose of the search warrant cannot be

accomplished within the ten day validity period, the responsible officer conducting the search

must file, before the issuing court, an application for the extension of the validity period of

search warrant.

Valid Warrantless Searches and Seizures - Search made Incidental to a valid arrest. A person

lawfully arrested may be searched for dangerous weapons or anything which may be used or

constitute proof in the commission of an offense without a search warrant,

Search of moving vehicles. The guaranty of freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures is

construed as recognizing a necessary difference between a search of a dwelling, house or other

structure in respect of which a search warrant may readily be obtain and a search of a ship,

motorboat, wagon, or automobile for contraband goods, where it is not practicable to secure a

warrant, because the vehicle can be quickly moved out of the locality or jurisdiction which the

warrant must be sought.

Seizure of goods concealed avoid Customs duties. "Persons exercising police authorities under

the customs laws may effect search and seizure without a search warrant in the enforcement of

custom laws. "A search, seizure and arrest may be made even without warrant for purposes of

enforcing customs and tariff laws".

Requirements of Plain View Doctrine. -The law enforcement officer must have prior

justification for an intrusion or, otherwise, must be in a position from which he can view

particular area; The discovery of the evidence in plain view is inadvertent (discovery by chance).

It is immediately apparent to the officer that the item he observes (.e... open to the naked eye and

hand) may be evidence of a crime, contraband, or is otherwise subject to seizure. When there is

waiver of the right or there is consented search. -To constitute a waiver of this constitutional

right, it must appear, first that the right exists; secondly, that the person involved had knowledge,

either actual or constructive, of the existence of such right, lastly, that said person had an actual

intention to relinquish the right. Thus, where the accused has voluntarily surrendered his gun, he

cannot claim illegality of the seizure.

Search Warrant - It is an order in writing issued in the name of the People of the Philippines, it

is signed

by a judge and directed to a peace officer, commanding him to search for a personal property and

described therein and bring it in before the Honorable Court.

Requisites for issuance of a Search Warrant A search warrant shall be issued only upon

probable cause in connection with one specific offense to be determined personally by the judge

after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may
produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the things to be seized which

may be anywhere in the Philippines.

Parts of a Search Warrant

 The time and date it was issued

 The specific property that officers can search

 Time period during which the property can searched

 What property can be seized if found

 Confirmation that officers have probable cause to search the property

Criminological Theories applicable in your Topic

WARRANTLESS SEARCHES INCIDENT TO LAWFUL ARRESTS: GENERAL

PRINCIPLES

In the 1981 case of New York v. Belton," the Supreme Court for the first time explicitly

addressed the issue of whether an automobile can be searched by police without a warrant simply

because an occupant of the automobile has been lawfully arrested." At issue in Belton was

whether a warrantless search of an automobile is permitted under the Chimel v. California20

exception to the general fourth amendment rule.

The Chimel exception permits police, without a warrant, to search the area adjacent to a person

lawfully arrested if the arrestee could lunge or grasp for a weapon or for evidence that could be

destroyed." In Chimel, after police had arrested the defendant in his home-an arrest the Court

assumed was lawful22-the police searched the entire home and discovered incriminating

evidence. This evidence was introduced at the defendant's trial on two charges of burglary, and

he was convicted. Over ruling two earlier cases that would have permitted the warrantless search

of the defendant's entire home, the Court held that a lawful warrantless search incident to a

lawful arrest includes only the person of the arrestee²4 and the area " "within his immediate

control'.
\

Laws Applicable

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against

unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable,

and no search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be

determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the

complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be

searched and the persons or things to be seized.

The sacred right against an arrest, search or seizure without valid warrant is not only ancient. It is

also zealously safeguarded. The Constitution guarantees the right of the people to be secure in

their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Any

evidence obtained in violation of said right shall thus be inadmissible for any purpose in any

proceeding. Indeed, while the power to search and seize may at times be necessary to the public

welfare, still it must be exercised and the law implemented without contravening the

constitutional rights of the citizens; for the enforcement of no statute is of sufficient importance

to justify indifference to the basic principles of government.

The search warrant shall be valid for ten (10) days from date of issuance, and after which the

issuing judge should ascertain if the return has been made, and if there was none, should

summon the person to whom the warrant was issued and require him to explain why no return
was made. If the return has been made, the judge should ascertain from the officer who seized

the property under the warrant if a detailed receipt of the property seized was left with the lawful

occupants of the premises in whose presence the search and seizure were made, or in the absence

of such occupants, whether he left a receipt in the place in which he found the seized property in

the presence of at least two witnesses of sufficient age and discretion residing in the same

locality, and should require that the property seized by virtue of the warrant shall be delivered to

the judge who issued the warrant. The judge should see to it that an accurate and true inventory

of the property seized duly verified under oath is attached to the return and filed with the court;

and the return on the search warrant shall be filed and kept by the custodian of the log book who

shall also enter in the log book, the date of the return, the result, and such other actions the judge

may have taken thereon.

Imagine you are relaxing in your living room listening to music. You have a handgun and a bag

filled with cash sitting just inside your front door. Unbeknownst to you, your neighbor has called

the police to complain about the volume of your music. An officer knocks on your door to

inform you of the city's noise ordinance, and perhaps issue you a citation. You hear the knock,

and open the door.

There stands the officer... and there sits your handgun and bag of cash.

What happens next depends on a variety of factors.

The Fourth Amendment protects against 'unlawful searches and seizures.' If you are suspected of

a crime, and a police officer wants to search your home, the officer will need a search warrant

signed by a judge before he can enter your home and conduct a search.
The plain view doctrine is an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment.

Under the plain view doctrine, a law enforcement officer can seize evidence of a crime

(otherwise known as 'contraband') without a warrant, if the officer observes the contraband in

plain view. The plain view doctrine is intended to spare police officers from stopping a legal

search in order to secure a warrant when evidence of a crime is in the officer's plain view.

Contraband or other property that has been seized illegally may be suppressed at trial. This

means that the court will not allow the prosecution to use the illegally obtained evidence. In

many cases, the contraband is the only evidence linking the suspect to a crime. Therefore,

whether evidence seized under the plain view doctrine is suppressed may be the difference

between a conviction and an acquittal.

Conclusion
Recommendation

Reflection
Curriculum Vitae
References

https://www.freeadvice.com/legal/what-is-an-unreasonable-search-or-seizure/

https://ls.pnp.gov.ph/index.php/publications/22-warrantless-arrest-search-a-police-primer

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/search_warrant

https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_15A/Article_11.pd

https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/amendment-04/11-property-subject-to-seizure.html

https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2018/feb2018/gr_196045_2018.html

https://ndvlaw.com/faqs-on-search-warrants/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/plain-view-doctrine-definition-cases.html