San Diego v. Hernandez

San Diego v. Hernandez FACTS: After investigating an alleged mauling of one Manuel Abella, in Quezon City, on October 3, 1964, Benjamin M. Grecia, as Assistant Fiscal of said City, filed, in connection therewith, with the Court of First Instance of Rizal, Quezon City Branch — hereinafter referred to as CFI — presided over by Hon. Lourdes P. San Diego, Judge, an information for frustrated murder, against Juancho G. Gutierrez, Celedonio P. Cayado alias Tony Cayado, Alfonso D. Tagle alias Panchito Alba, Benjamin A. Johnson, Eliseo C. Estanislao and three (3) other persons designated in said pleading as John Doe, Richard Doe and Peter Doe. The defendant designated in the information by their true names were arraigned before the CFI. On this occasion, Judge San Diego asked Assistant Fiscal Grecia about the identity of the persons referred to in said pleading as John Doe, Richard Doe and Peter Doe. Grecia replied that the first two (2) were Assistant City Fiscal Modesto Obispo and Patrolman Cipriano Valeriano, respectively — hereinafter referred to collectively as the respondents. Thereupon, Judge San Diego authorized Grecia to cross out the conventional names John Doe and Richard Doe, in the information, and write, instead, "Fiscal Modesto Obispo" and "Patrolman Cipriano Valerians", which Grecia did. Then, the warrants for their arrest were issued, on motion of Grecia. Respondents forthwith moved to set aside said warrants of arrest, but, the motion was denied on October 20, 1964; whereupon, respondents posted their respective bail bonds, and moved to quash the information, upon the ground of absence of a preliminary investigation and the consequent lack of authority to file said pleading. After listening to the argument of respondents' counsel, when said motion was heard on October 31, 1964, Judge San Diego stated that, "not being founded on the grounds provided by the Rules of Court," the motion would "have to be denied." Respondents alleged in their petition therein that the amended information against them is null and void: (1) because they were given no preliminary investigation, before being included in said pleading, and (2) because Grecia allegedly "lost all authority to amend the information" by including therein respondents herein. ISSUE: WON respondents were denied due process. RULING: No, with respect to the first ground, it is worthy of notice that the Constitution does not require the holding of preliminary investigations. The right thereto exists only, if and when created by statute. When so created, the absence of a preliminary investigation — if it is not waived — may amount to a denial of due process. In this connection, Section 38 of the Revised Charter of Quezon City1 reads: Every person arrested shall, without unnecessary delay, be brought before the City Attorney, the municipal court, or the Court of First instance for preliminary hearing, release on bail, or trial. ...In case triable only in the Court of First Instance the defendant shall not be entitled as of right to preliminary examination in any case where the Fiscal of the city, after a due investigation of the facts, shall have presented an information against him in proper form. But the Court of First Instance may make such summary investigation into the case as it may deem necessary to enable it to fix the bail or to determine whether the offense is bailable. Thus, the defendant in a case "triable only in the Court of First Instance" of Quezon City, "shall not be entitled as of right to preliminary investigation . . . where the Fiscal of the City, after due investigation of the facts, shall have presented an information against him in proper form." In the case at bar, such investigation had been conducted and said "information in proper form" was filed by the "Fiscal of the City." Hence, the action of Assistant Fiscal Grecia in inserting, in the information in Criminal Case No. Q-6029, the true names of those accused therein as John Doe and Richard Doe, and the authority given therefor by Judge San Diego, are violative of neither the Fundamental Law nor the statutes, and do not constitute a denial of due process. In the case of respondents herein, Assistant Fiscal Grecia had conducted an investigation, and had not dismissed, either expressly or impliedly, the charges against them. What is more, he included them in the information, although under the conventional names of John Doe and Richard Doe, and their true names were not revealed until the arraignment of their co-defendants, on October 31, 1964. Lastly, none of the aforementioned cases involved the application of a provision analogous to that of the Revised Charter of Quezon City, explicitly denying the right to a preliminary investigation in cases triable only in the Court of First Instance thereof, where the prosecutor, after due investigation of the facts, shall have filed an information against him in proper form.