LAW ON EVIDENCE
FINAL EXAM
ATTY. HADJI HROTHGAR O. HIDLAO
NAME:_______________________________________________________ DATE: ________________
Police officers arrested Mr. Druggie in a buy-bust operation and confiscated from him 10 sachets
of shabu and several marked genuine peso bills worth P5,000.00 used as the buy-bust money during the
buy-bust operation.
At the trial of Mr. Druggie for violation of R.A. No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act
of 2002), the Prosecution offered in evidence, among others, photocopies of the confiscated marked
genuine peso bills. The photocopies were offered to prove that Mr. Druggie had engaged at the time of
his arrest in the illegal selling of dangerous drugs.
Invoking the Best Evidence Rule, Atty. Maya Bang, the defense counsel, objected to the
admissibility of the photocopies of the confiscated marked genuine peso bills.
Should the trial judge sustain the objection of the defense counsel? Briefly explain your answer.
(10%)
II
Immediately before he died of gunshot wounds to his chest, Venancio told the attending physician,
in a very feeble voice, that it was Arnulfo, his co-worker, who had shot him. Venancio added that it was
also Arnulfo who had shot Vicente, the man whose cadaver was lying on the bed beside him.
In the prosecution of Arnulfo for the criminal killing of Venancio and Vicente, are all the statements
of Venancio admissible as dying declarations? Explain your answer. (10%)
III
In an attempt to discredit and impeach a Prosecution witness in a homicide case, the defense
counsel called to the stand a person who had been the boyhood friend and next-door neighbor of the
Prosecution witness for 30 years. One question that the defense counsel asked of the impeaching
witness was: "Can you tell this Honorable Court about the general reputation of the prosecution witness in
your community for aggressiveness and violent tendencies?"
Would you, as the trial prosecutor, interpose your objection to the question of the defense
counsel? Explain your answer. (10%)
IV
While passing by a dark uninhabited part of their barangay, PO2 Asintado observed shadows and heard
screams from a distance. PO2 Asintado hid himself behind the bushes and saw a man beating a woman
whom he recognized as his neighbor, Kulasa. When Kulasa was already in agony, the man stabbed her
and she fell on the ground. The man hurriedly left thereafter.
PO2 Asintado immediately went to Kulasa’s rescue. Kulasa, who was then in a state of hysteria, kept
mentioning to PO2 Asintado “Si Rene, gusto akong patayin! Sinaksak niya ako!” When PO2 Asintado was
about to carry her, Kulasa refused and said “Kaya ko. Mababaw lang to. Habulin mo si Rene.”
The following day, Rene learned of Kulasa’s death and, bothered by his conscience, surrendered to the
authorities with his counsel. As his surrender was broadcasted all over media, Rene opted to release his
statement to the press which goes:
“I believe that I am entitled to the presumption of innocence until my guilt is proven beyond reasonable
doubt. Although I admit that I performed acts that may take one’s life away, I hope and pray that justice
will be served the right way. God bless us all.
(Sgd.)
Rene”
The trial court convicted Rene of homicide on the basis of PO2 Asintado’s
testimony, Kulasa’s statements, and Rene’s statement to the press. On appeal, Rene raises the following
errors:
1. The trial court erred in giving weight to PO2 Asintado’s testimony, as the latter did not have any
personal knowledge of the facts in issue, and violated Rene’s right to due process when it
considered Kulasa’s statements despite lack of opportunity for her cross-examination.
2. The trial court erred in holding that Rene’s statement to the press was a confession which, standing
alone, would be sufficient to warrant conviction.
Resolve. (10%)
V.
A search warrant was issued for the purpose of looking for unlicensed firearms in the house of Ass-asin, a
notorious gun for hire. When the police served the warrant, they also sought the assistance of barangay
tanods who were assigned to look at other portions of the premises around the house. In a nipa hut thirty
(30) meters away from the house of Ass-asin, a barangay tanod came upon a kilo of marijuana that was
wrapped in newsprint. He took it and this was later used by the authorities to charge Ass-asin with illegal
possession of marijuana. Ass-asin objected to the introduction of such evidence claiming that it was illegally
seized. Is the objection of Assasin valid? (10%)
VI
A foreign dog trained to sniff dangerous drugs from packages, was hired by FDP Corporation, a door to
door forwarder company, to sniff packages in their depot at the international airport. In one of the routinary
inspections of packages waiting to be sent to the United States of America (USA), the dog sat beside one
of the packages, a signal that the package contained dangerous drugs. Thereafter, the guards opened the
package and found two (2) kilograms of cocaine. The owner of the package was arrested and charges were
filed against him. During the trial, the prosecution, through the trainer who was present during the incident
and an expert in this kind of field, testified that the dog was highly trained to sniff packages to determine if
the contents were dangerous drugs and the sniffing technique of these highly trained dogs was accepted
worldwide and had been successful in dangerous drugs operations. The prosecution moved to admit this
evidence to justify the opening of the package. The accused objected on the grounds that: (i) the guards
had no personal knowledge of the contents of the package before it was opened; (ii) the testimony of the
trainer of the dog is hearsay; and (iii) the accused could not cross-examine the dog. Decide. (10%)
VII
John filed a petition for declaration of nullity of his marriage to Anne on the ground of psychological
incapacity under Article 36 of the Family Code. He obtained a copy of the confidential psychiatric
evaluation report on his wife from the secretary of the psychiatrist. Can he testify on the said report
without offending the rule on privileged communication? Explain. (10%)
GOODLUCK
TRUST THE PROCESS
