Guidelines for Decongesting Holding Jails by Enforcing the Rights of Accused Persons to Bail and to Speedy Trial

Section 1

A pre-trial is a process whereby the accused and the prosecutors in a criminal case work out, usually at the arraignment stage, a naturally satisfactory disposition of a case subject to court approval in order to expedite the trial of the case. [78] The prosecutor shall enter into a pre-trial only when the accused and counsel agree and upon order of the court.

Sec 2

Duties of prosecutor before and after the pre-trial conference. -Before the pre-trial conference, the prosecutor should know every fact and detail of the case. This can be accomplished by interviewing the complainant and other witnesses and after a thorough examination of the available documentary and other physical evidence. The prosecutor should place importance on the testimony of the expert witness. The knowledge that the prosecutor will gain from said witness will help him determine the procedures undertaken in the examination of a subject or thing; the scientific or technical terms applied, and the reason/s in arriving at a certain conclusion. During the pre-trial process, the prosecutor shall bear in mind that he has to prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt and that every act or incident should be proved by the testimony of qualified and competent witnesses. After the pre-trial conference, the prosecutor shall ensure that any agreement or admission made or entered therein is in writing and signed by the accused and his counsel.

Sec 3

The pre-trial conference shall consider the following: Plea bargaining - This is a process where the defendants usually plead guilty to a lesser offense or to only one or some of the counts of a multi-count indictment in return for a lighter sentence than that for the graver charge[79]; Stipulation of facts- This is the agreement of the parties on some facts admitted, some facts covered by judicial notice (Sec. 1, Rule 129), judicial admissions (Sec. 2 Rule 129), or on matters not otherwise disputed by them. In cases requiring the presentation of government witnesses or evidence, the Trial Prosecutor should exert every effort to secure a waiver by the accused of objections to the admissibility of certain documentary evidence, e.g., medical or death certificate, necropsy report, forensic chemistry report, ballistics report, Philippine Overseas and Employment Administration (POEA) Certification, and the like, if such evidence has no relevance whatsoever to the theory of the defense, in order to dispense with the presentation and testimony in court of government witnesses. Whenever appropriate or necessary, the counter-affidavit of the accused submitted luring the preliminary investigation may be resorted to or availed of to denions~rate or establish the defense theory; Marking of documentary evidence in advance for identification; Waiver in advance of objections to admissibility of evidence; List of witnesses to be presented which should be qualified by the following statement: "that other witnesses may be presented in the course of the trial"; and Such other matters as will promote a fair and expeditious trial.

Sec 4

The following rules shall apply to cases where the accused pleads guilty to a lesser offense: The Trial Prosecutor shall immediately move for the suspension of the proceedings whenever the accused manifests his intention in court to plead guilty to a lesser offense. This will enable the Trial Prosecutor to evaluate the implications of the offer. If the lesser offense to which the accused will plead guilty is not a capital offense, the Trial Prosecutor may dispense with the presentation of evidence unless the court directs otherwise. The Trial Prosecutor, with the consent of the offended party, may motu proprio agree to the offer of the accused to plead guilty to a lesser offense if the penalty imposable therefor is prision correccional (maximum of six [61 years) or less or a fine not exceeding P12,000.00. When the penalty imposable for the offense charged is prision mayor (at least six [6] years and one [11 day or higher) or a fine exceeding ~12,000.00, the Trial Prosecutor shall first submit his comment/recommendation to the City or Provincial Prosecutor or to the Chief State Prosecutor, as the case may be, for approval. If the recommendation is approved in writing, the Trial Prosecutor, may, with the consent of the offended party, agree to a plea of guilty to a lesser offense. For this purpose, the Chief State Prosecutor or the Provincial or City Prosecutor concerned shall act on the recommendation of the Trial Prosecutor within forty-eight (48) hours from receipt thereof. In no case shall the subject plea to a lesser offense be allowed without the written approval of the above respective heads of office. In all cases, the penalty for the lesser offense to which the accused may be allowed to plead guilty shall not be more than two (2) degrees lower than the imposable penalty for the crime charged, notwithstanding the presence of mitigating circumstances. The lesser offense shall also be one that is necessarily related to the offense charged or the offense must belong to the same classification or title under the Revised Penal Code or the relevant special laws.[80] However, the plea of guilty to a lesser offense may not be allowed where it so contravenes lo~ nd common sense as to be unconscionable, thereby resulting in us, where the offense charged is homicide, a plea of guilty to a lesser offense of frustrated or attempted homicide, may not be allowed, since the fact of death cannot be reconciled with the plea of guilty to frustrated or attempted homicide. Homicide necessarily produces death, while frustrated or attempted homicide does not.[81]

Sec 5

If the accused pleads guilty to a capital offense, the Trial Prosecutor must present evidence to prove the guilt of the accused and the precise degree of his culpability. This is mandatory.