Sotomayor v. People

Summary

Gene Sotomayor was charged with illegal possession of 0.141g of shabu under R.A. No. 9165 after police officers found the substance during his arrest on June 16, 2015. The RTC and CA convicted him, finding the prosecution proved all elements and maintained proper chain of custody. However, the Supreme Court reversed and acquitted him due to critical lapses in the chain of custody procedure. The Court found that: the seized items were improperly marked at the barangay hall instead of the place of arrest; there was insufficient testimony on how the investigating officer and evidence custodian handled the evidence; the inventory was conducted at an unauthorized venue without justification; and mandatory witnesses from media or National Prosecution Service were absent without genuine efforts to secure their presence. These procedural violations created reasonable doubt about the evidence's integrity, warranting acquittal under the constitutional presumption of innocence.