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    G.R. No. 213847

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    Sarah Tarala Moscosa
    The Supreme Court ruled that bail should be granted to Petitioner Juan Ponce Enrile as a matter of right unless the prosecution can establish that the evidence of his guilt for the crime of plunder is strong. Under the Constitution and the Rules of Criminal Procedure, an accused charged with an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment can be denied bail only if evidence of guilt is strong. The prosecution failed to demonstrate that Enrile would be convicted of an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua and also failed to show that the evidence of his guilt was strong. Therefore, Enrile was entitled to post bail.

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    G.R. No. 213847

    Uploaded by

    Sarah Tarala Moscosa
    71 views3 pages
    The Supreme Court ruled that bail should be granted to Petitioner Juan Ponce Enrile as a matter of right unless the prosecution can establish that the evidence of his guilt for the crime of plunder is strong. Under the Constitution and the Rules of Criminal Procedure, an accused charged with an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment can be denied bail only if evidence of guilt is strong. The prosecution failed to demonstrate that Enrile would be convicted of an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua and also failed to show that the evidence of his guilt was strong. Therefore, Enrile was entitled to post bail.

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    G.r. no. 213847

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    The Supreme Court ruled that bail should be granted to Petitioner Juan Ponce Enrile as a matter of right unless the prosecution can establish that the evidence of his guilt for the crime of plunder is strong. Under the Constitution and the Rules of Criminal Procedure, an accused charged with an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment can be denied bail only if evidence of guilt is strong. The prosecution failed to demonstrate that Enrile would be convicted of an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua and also failed to show that the evidence of his guilt was strong. Therefore, Enrile was entitled to post bail.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    71 views3 pages

    G.R. No. 213847

    Uploaded by

    Sarah Tarala Moscosa
    The Supreme Court ruled that bail should be granted to Petitioner Juan Ponce Enrile as a matter of right unless the prosecution can establish that the evidence of his guilt for the crime of plunder is strong. Under the Constitution and the Rules of Criminal Procedure, an accused charged with an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment can be denied bail only if evidence of guilt is strong. The prosecution failed to demonstrate that Enrile would be convicted of an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua and also failed to show that the evidence of his guilt was strong. Therefore, Enrile was entitled to post bail.

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    G.R. No.

    213847; August 18, 2015


    Ponente: Bersamin
    Doctrines:
    Primary objective of bail The strength of the Prosecution's case, albeit a good measure of
    the accused's propensity for flight or for causing harm to the public, is subsidiary to the
    primary objective of bail, which is to ensure that the accused appears at trial.
    Bail is a right and a matter of discretion Right to bail is afforded in Sec. 13, Art III of the
    1987 Constitution and repeted in Sec. 7, Rule 114 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure to wit:
    No person charged with a capital offense, or an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or
    life imprisonment, shall be admitted to bail when evidence of guilt is strong, regardless of
    the stage of the criminal prosecution.
    FACTS:
    On June 5, 2014, Petitioner Juan Ponce Enrile was charged with plunder in the
    Sandiganbayan on the basis of his purported involvement in the Priority Development
    Assistance Fund (PDAF) Scam. Initially, Enrile in an Omnibus Motion requested to post bail,
    which the Sandiganbayan denied. On July 3, 2014, a warrant for Enrile's arrest was issued,
    leading to Petitioner's voluntary surrender Petitioner again asked the Sandiganbayan in a
    Motion to Fix Bail which was heard by the Sandiganbayan. Petitioner argued that: (a)
    Prosecution had not yet established that the evidence of his guilt was strong; (b) that,
    because of his advanced age and voluntary surrender, the penalty would only be reclusion
    temporal, thus allowing for bail and; (c) he is not a flight risk due to his age and physical
    condition. Sandiganbayan denied this in its assailed resolution. Motion for Reconsideration
    was likewise denied.

    ISSUES:
    1) Whether or not bail may be granted as a matter of right unless the crime charged is
    punishable by reclusion perpetua where the evidence of guilt is strong.
    a. Whether or not prosecution failed to show that if ever petitioner would be convicted, he
    will be punishable by reclusion perpetua.

    b. Whether or not prosecution failed to show that petitioner's guilt is strong.

    2. Whether or not petitioner is bailable because he is not a flight risk.

    HELD:
    1. YES.

    Bail as a matter of right due process and presumption of innocence.


    Article III, Sec. 14 (2) of the 1987 Constitution provides that in all criminal prosecutions,
    the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved. This right is
    safeguarded by the constitutional right to be released on bail.

    The purpose of bail is to guarantee the appearance of the accused at trial and so the
    amount of bail should be high enough to assure the presence of the accused when so
    required, but no higher than what may be reasonably calculated to fulfill this purpose.

    Bail as a matter of discretion


    Right to bail is afforded in Sec. 13, Art III of the 1987 Constitution and repeted in Sec. 7,
    Rule 114 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure to wit:
    Capital offense of an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, not
    bailable. No person charged with a capital offense, or an offense punishable by reclusion
    perpetua or life imprisonment, shall be admitted to bail when evidence of guilt is strong,
    regardless of the stage of the criminal prosecution.
    The general rule: Any person, before conviction of any criminal offense, shall be bailable.

    Exception: Unless he is charged with an offense punishable with reclusion perpetua [or life
    imprisonment] and the evidence of his guilt is strong.
    Thus, denial of bail should only follow once it has been established that the evidence of guilt
    is strong. Where evidence of guilt is not strong, bail may be granted according to the
    discretion of the court.
    Thus, Sec. 5 of Rule 114 also provides:
    Bail, when discretionary. Upon conviction by the Regional Trial Court of an offense not
    punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment, admission to bail is
    discretionary. The application for bail may be filed and acted upon by the trial court despite
    the filing of a notice of appeal, provided it has not transmitted the original record to the
    appellate court. However, if the decision of the trial court convicting the accused changed
    the nature of the offense from non-bailable to bailable, the application for bail can only be
    filed with and resolved by the appellate court.

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