Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
DEMURRER TO EVIDENCE
(With Prior Leave of Court)
Such insufficiency means that further proceedings will waste the precious
time of this Honorable Court.
Above named accused stands charged for allege violation of Section 11,
Article II of R.A. 9165.
PREFATORY STATEMENT
ARGUMENTS / DISCUSSIONS
The accused was arraigned on May 7, ____ and he entered a plea of not
guilty. Pre-trial ensued and it was terminated on June 4, _____. Thereafter, trial
proper commenced. After formally offering its exhibits, the Prosecution rests its
case. Leave of court to file demurrer to evidence was filed by the defense and the
same was granted.
From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that the corpus delicti of the crime
imputed to the accused was not proven by the prosecution.
In a long line of cases, it was categorically ruled by the Supreme Court that
identity of the prohibited drugs constitutes the corpus delicti of the offense.
Thus, in the case of People vs. Pedronan3, the Supreme Court ruled that:
The Supreme Court has explained in People v. Del Monte [G.R. No.
179940, 23 April 2008] that what is of utmost importance is the preservation of
the integrity and evidentiary value of the seized items, as the same would be
3
G.R. 148668, June 17, 2003
Page 3 of 4
Clearly, PO2 __________, who is the most competent person to make the
proper identification being the arresting officer who confiscated the item from the
accused, never actually identified the same.
The failure of the prosecution to have the specimen or alleged plastic sachet
recovered from the accused be indentified in open court by its witnesses is very
fatal to their case. As a necessary consequence of the failure of the prosecution to
prove all the elements of the crime, ACQUITTAL of the accused is an inevitable
conclusion.
It goes without saying that conviction must rest on the strength of the
prosecution’s evidence because after all the accused enjoys the constitutional right
to be presumed innocent until contrary is proven. “The evidence of the
prosecution must stand or fall on its merits, and cannot be allowed to draw
strength from the weakness or absence of the evidence for the defense.”
PRAYER
ATTY __________
Address
Roll No. _______
IBP Lifetime Member No. __________
MCLE Compliance No. __________
NOTICE OF HEARING
ATTY. ____________
Branch Clerk of Court
RTC Branch _____
Caloocan City
Greetings:
Please take notice that the foregoing Demurrer to Evidence will be heard
for consideration and approval of the Honorable Court at their most available
calendar date without further argument.
ATTY_________________
Copy furnished:
ACP ___________________
Office of the City Prosecutor
Caloocan City