Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Perfunctory
Reading
of
Miranda
Warnings
not
Enough
There was thus only a perfunctory reading of the Miranda rights to accused-appellant
without any effort to find out from him whether he wanted to have counsel and, if so,
whether he had his own counsel or he wanted the police to appoint one for him. This kind of
giving of warnings, in several decisions[16] of this Court, has been found to be merely
ceremonial and inadequate to transmit meaningful information to the suspect. Especially in
this case, care should have been scrupulously observed by the police investigator that
accused-appellant was specifically asked these questions considering that he only finished
the
fourth
grade
of
the
elementary
school.
xxx
Independent
Counsel
Moreover, Art. III, 12(1) requires that counsel assisting suspects in custodial interrogations
be competent and independent. Here, accused-appellant was assisted by Atty. De los Reyes,
who, though presumably competent, cannot be considered an "independent counsel" as
contemplated by the law for the reason that he was station commander of the WPD at the
time
he
assisted
accused-appellant.
NOTA BENE:
The right to counsel attaches upon investigation, that is, when the investigation
officer starts to ask question to elicit information or confession or admission. In case
of waiver of rights, the same must be done in writing and in the presence of counsel.