Togado v. People

On May 28, 2014, an RTC judge in Santa Cruz, Laguna issued a search warrant against Benjamin Togado for unlicensed firearms. The next day, police searched his house in Magdalena. Togado pointed them to a .45-caliber pistol on a chair, with a magazine holding five live rounds. PO1 San Luis put the items in a ziplock plastic bag and marked the bag, not the gun, "MMS-01 5/29/14". No other firearm was found. The Firearms and Explosives Office certified that Togado was "not a registered firearm holder of any kind or caliber per verification." He was charged under Section 28 of RA 10591. At trial, the gun presented bore the marking "Magdalena MPS" and the magazine "MAG MPS", and both came in a different container. San Luis admitted that the marked bag was destroyed when the items were retrieved from the evidence custodian, and he was not sure the gun in court was the one seized. The defense presented no evidence. The RTC convicted Togado. The CA affirmed, citing People v. Olarte: because the corpus delicti is the lack of a license, the firearm need not be presented.

1. 1Whether the search warrant was valid
2. 2Whether the prosecution proved the elements of illegal possession of firearms under Section 28 of RA 10591 beyond reasonable doubt, including whether the confiscated firearm must be presented

The warrant was valid: it recited the examination of the applicant and a witness, attached a sketch and listed the firearms. Under Ogayon, missing examination records do not by themselves void a warrant. But Togado was acquitted. The offense has two elements: (a) the existence of the subject firearm; and (b) the accused who possessed or owned it has no license for it. The first element was not proved. The PNP operations manual requires that the chain of custody "be strictly observed and documented", and the firearm itself should preferably be marked, not the plastic. Mismatched markings, a destroyed bag and an unsure officer meant integrity was not preserved. Olarte, where the officers identified the item and explained the discrepancy, and the murder cases Malinao and Dulay do not apply. The Court accepted that the corpus delicti is the lack of a license. Dispensing with the firearm, however, would make it easy to plant a gun and convict on a certification of no license, and the firearm's classification determines the penalty under Section 28. Guidelines: (1) In RA 10591 prosecutions, the exact same firearm must be presented. (2) It must also be presented where Section 29 applies the illegal-possession penalty to a crime committed with the firearm. (3) Where use of the firearm only aggravates the crime or is absorbed by it, presentation is preferred, but courts may consider secondary evidence. (4) Every confiscated firearm must be marked, photographed, authenticated and preserved; lapses do not automatically acquit, but unjustified ones may create reasonable doubt. A certificate of no license alone does not prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Togado was acquitted and ordered released.