Jade Castro case, criminal procedure: Make sure to question the legality of the arrest formally and early on before any kind of arraignment takes place.
The job of the inquest fiscal is to determine whether or not the warrantless arrest is valid (it is valid only if in flagrante delicto or caught in the act of committing a crime, or if policemen saw the person committing a crime and pursued him/her/them : This is called “hot pursuit”. Or if the person is a fugitive). Facts show that the CCTV and other documentary evidence show that Jade Castro and his prod crew were in another town, Mulanay town, on stage production, the entire time and when the police visited them;
there is an entire CCTV footage on this by the local government unit itself. The police then visited them, then the next day, the police invited them for questioning, and there they were detained).
The facts show that the warrantless arrest therefore of Jade Castro and colleagues is not valid and the inquest fiscal should have ordered their release.
Because of what the inquest fiscal did, the Information (formal charge) would have already been filed in court. (Correction, see next post : But apparently, without any Mirandizing and without a lawyer they were made to sign a waiver of Art. 125 so their detention was extended and the inquest fiscal has not yet filed the Information (formal charge) in court?) I will let the handling lawyers deliberate on the procedure, and will post an explainer later. But an important reminder po: Make sure to question the legality of the arrest formally and early on before any kind of arraignment takes place.
