Community

Quiz

1. The police got a report about a shooting incident during a town fiesta. One person was
killed. The police immediately went to the scene and started asking the people about
what they witnessed. In due time, they were pointed to Edward Gunman, a security
guard, as the possible malefactor. Edward was then having refreshment in one of the
eateries when the police approached him. They asked him if he had a gun to which
question he answered yes. Then they asked if he had seen anybody shot in the vicinity
just a few minutes earlier and this time he said he did not know about it. After a few more
questions, one of the policemen asked Edward if he was the shooter. He said no, but then
the policeman who asked him told him that several witnesses pointed to hi m as the
shooter. Whereupon Edward broke down and started explaining that it was a matter of
self-defense. Edward was eventually charged with murder. During his trial, the
statements he made to the police were introduced as evidence against him. He objected
claiming that they were inadmissible since he was not given his Miranda rights. On the
other hand, the prosecution countered that there was no need for such rights to be given
since he was not yet arrested at the time of the questioning. If you we e the judge, how
would you rule on the issue? Cite legal basis. (10 points)

2. Ernesto, a minor, while driving a motor vehicle, was stopped at a mobile checkpoint.
Noticing that Ernesto is a minor, SPOl Jojo asked Ernesto to exhibit his driver's license
but Ernesto failed to produce it. SPOI Jojo requested Ernesto to alight from the vehicle
and the latter acceded. Upon observing a bulge in the pants of Ernesto, the policeman
frisked him and found an unlicensed .22-caliber pistol inside Ernesto's right pocket.
Ernesto was arrested, detained and charged. At the trial, Ernesto, through his lawyer,
argued that, policemen at mobile checkpoints are empowered to conduct nothing more
than a ''visual search". They cannot order the persons riding the vehicle to alight. They
cannot frisk, or conduct a body search of the driver or the passengers of the vehicle.

Ernesto's lawyer thus posited that:

[a] The search conducted in violation of the Constitution and established jurisprudence
was an illegal search; thus, the gun which was seized in the course of an illegal search is
the "fruit of the poisonous tree" and is inadmissible in evidence.
[b] The arrest made as a consequence of the invalid search was likewise illegal, because
an unlawful act (the search) cannot be made the basis of a lawful arrest.
Rule on the correctness of the foregoing arguments, with reasons.

3. The Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Association (GBTYA), an organization of

gay, bisexual, and transgender persons, filed for accreditation with the COMELEC to join
the forthcoming party-list elections. The COMELEC denied the application for
accreditation on the ground that GBTY A espouses immorality which offends religious
dogmas. GBTY A challenges the denial of its application based on moral grounds because
it violates its right to equal protection of the law.

(1) What are the three (3) levels of test that are applied in equal protection cases and this?
Explain.
(2) Which of the three (3) levels of test should be applied to the present case? Explain.