Rieta vs People

GR 147817, 436 SCRA 273, August 12, 2004

Taxation Law, Criminal Law

Facts:

The authorities intercepted a cargo truck containing 305 cases of blue-seal or untaxed cigarettes,
which was escorted by a toyota car loaded with firearms. The cargo truck was driven by a civilian who
managed to escape. Among those caught in the act and charged with violations were two policemen
who accompanied the driver in the cargo truck, and another civilian and three policemen manning the
toyota car. Some of the policemen were found to be personnel of COSAC or Constabulary Off-Shore
Anti Crime battalion who have no mission orders. They were apprehended, charged with smuggling, and
the confiscated cigarettes were entrusted to the custody of the Bureau of Customs.

On appeal, the accused contended that the existence of the blue-seal cigarettes was not established
because the prosecution had not presented them as evidence, and that there was no crime because the
corpus delicti was never proven during the trial.

Issue 1: W/N the fact of the crime was sufficiently established

Held:

Yes. Corpus delicti may be proven by credible testimony of witnesses, not necessarily by physical
evidence. This means that the confiscated blue-seal cigarettes need not be presented as evidence in
court to prove smuggling. In this case, a custody receipt issued by the BOC was presented and the
testimonies of the apprehending authorities identifying the contraband items were found credible. Such
are sufficient to prove the fact of the crime.

Issue 2: W/N the accused committed smuggling

Held: Yes. Under Section 3601 of the Tariff and Customs Code, persons found to be in possession of
smuggled items are presumed to be engaged in smuggling. In this case, the defendants were shown to
have had possession of illegally imported merchandise without offering any satisfactory explanations.
Hence, conviction is proper since they were not able to rebut the presumption