This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2011-10-05 |
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J. |
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| Recently, we held that the unjustified failure of the police officers to show that the integrity of the object evidence - shabu - was properly preserved negates the presumption of regularity accorded to acts undertaken by them in the pursuit of their official duties.[28] As a rule, the testimony of arresting police officers in drug cases is accorded faith and credit because of the presumption that they have performed their duties regularly.[29] Slight infractions or nominal deviations by the police from the prescribed method of handling the corpus delicti should not exculpate an otherwise guilty defendant.[30] However, in the present case, there were not merely trifling lapses in the handling of the evidence taken from the accused but the prosecution could not even establish what procedure was followed by the arresting team to ensure a proper chain of custody for the confiscated prohibited drug. | |||||