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Sales vs. Sandiganbayan

The petitioner, a mayor, shot and killed his political rival, the former mayor. He surrendered to police. A judge found probable cause and issued an arrest warrant. During ongoing proceedings, the petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition, alleging the judge was related to the victim and the preliminary examination and investigation were irregular as the judge lacked jurisdiction. The Supreme Court ruled the preliminary investigation was improperly conducted by three different investigators, none of whom completed it. The Office of the Ombudsman also failed to conduct a thorough investigation given the gravity of the murder charge. The OMB adopted a resolution without its own investigation and passed the case to another court.

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Dana Denisse Ricaplaza
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484 views1 page

Sales vs. Sandiganbayan

The petitioner, a mayor, shot and killed his political rival, the former mayor. He surrendered to police. A judge found probable cause and issued an arrest warrant. During ongoing proceedings, the petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition, alleging the judge was related to the victim and the preliminary examination and investigation were irregular as the judge lacked jurisdiction. The Supreme Court ruled the preliminary investigation was improperly conducted by three different investigators, none of whom completed it. The Office of the Ombudsman also failed to conduct a thorough investigation given the gravity of the murder charge. The OMB adopted a resolution without its own investigation and passed the case to another court.

Uploaded by

Dana Denisse Ricaplaza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sales vs.

Sandiganbayan
369 SCRA 293 G.R. No. 143802, 16 Nov. 2001

Facts:
The petitioner, the incumbent mayor of Pagudpud Ilocos Norte, shot the former mayor and his
political rival Atty. Benemerito. After the shooting, he surrendered himself and hence the police
inspector and wife of the victim filed a criminal complaint for murder against him.

The judge after conducting the preliminary examination (p.e. for brevity) found probable cause
and issued a warrant of arrest. Also after conducting the preliminary investigation (p.i. for
brevity), he issued a resolution forwarding the case to the prosecutor for appropriate action.
Petitioner received a subpoena directing him to file his counter affidavit, affidavit of witnesses
and other supporting documents. He did it the following day.

While proceedings are ongoing, he filed a petition for habeas corpus with the C.A alleging that:
the warrant was null and void because the judge who issued it was a relative by affinity of the
private respondent and the p.e. and the p.i. were illegal and irregular as the judge doesnt have
jurisdiction on the case.

Issue:
Whether or Not the OMB followed the procedure in conducting preliminary investigation.

Ruling:
The proper procedure in the conduct of preliminary investigation was not followed because of
the following reasons. Firstly, the preliminary investigation was conducted by 3 different
investigators, none of whom completed the preliminary investigation There was not one
continuous proceeding but rather, cases of passing the buck, the last one being the OMB
throwing the buck to the Sandiganbayan. Secondly, the charge of murder is a non bailable
offense. The gravity of the offense alone should have merited a deeper and more thorough
preliminary investigation. The OMB did nothing of the sort but wallowed the resolution of the
graft investigator. He did a worse job than the judge, by actually adopting the resolution of the
graft investigator without doing anything and threw everything to the Sandiganbayan for
evaluation. Thirdly, a person under preliminary investigation by the OMB is entitled to a motion
for reconsideration, as maintained by the Rules of Procedure by the OMB. The filing of the
motion for reconsideration is an integral part of the preliminary investigation proper. The denial
thereof is tantamount to the denial of the right itself to a preliminary investigation.

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