Fundamentals of Criminal Investigation and Intelligence
Chapter 1
Basic Principles in Crime, Criminal Law, and Evidence
Crime in a social context – Refers to any act considered as wrong or act
that violates the standard norm of the society.
Act that Violates the Standard Norm -meaning the society itself
considers such act as crime.
Act – Any bodily movement tending to produce an effect to the outside
world.
Overt Acts – Those actions that can be seen or observed.
Crime in Legal Perspective – An act or Omission in violation of Law.
Law – A System of rules embodied by different principles that bind the
practice or action concerning human conduct.
Two Ways of Committing a Crime:
By Means of Act- Performing an Act Prohibited by Law.
Ex: Theft (Art. 308 RPC) and Murder (Art. 249 RPC)
By Means of Omission- Failure to perform an act required by law.
Ex: Refusal of Assistance (Art. 233 RPC), and Delaying Release (Art.
126, RPC)
Crime – Generally refers to an act or Omission in violation of Law.
Felony – Acts or Omissions that violate the Revised Penal Code.
RPC- A book that contains the Philippine Criminal law and it also
embodies special laws and decrees which are penal in nature.
Offense- Term used to define a violation of Special Laws.
Infraction- Violation of City/Municipality/Barangay ordinances.
Misdemeanor- Refers to minor violations or infraction not tantamount to
serious injuries or damages.
Mala In Se – Those act as crime, in which by nature are wrong or evil,
such as Murder and Rape. (Generally Punishable by the revised Penal
Code)
Mala Prohibita – Are those act that in their nature are not evil but only
constitutes a crime when committed due to the enactment of a law that
prohibits it. Like Illegal Position of Firearms. (Generally, Punishable by
Special Laws)
Offender – Refers to any person accused or otherwise charged of a crime
either through act or omission.
- Law Enforcement – PUPC
- Prosecution – Respondent
- Courts – Accused
- Correction – PDL
- Community - GOPI
Perpetrator- refers to a person suspected to have committed a crime
whose identity was unknown to the police.
Suspect- refers to a person suspected to have committed a crime whose
identity has already known to the police.
Criminal Responsibility and Investigative Police Power
Criminal responsibility – is the obligation of a person for the charges as
a result of his criminal act.
Investigative Police Power – Refers to the capacity of the Police to
initiate investigation of cases which violates the law.
Presumption of innocence- It is based on the principle that every
person subjected to a criminal case is deemed consider innocent unless
proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Beyond reasonable Doubt- Is a principle which states that a person is
guilty based on moral certainty.
Moral Certainty- In a sense that a person is proven guilty based on how
the court appreciated the evidence presented during trial which produces
conviction.
Conviction- A judgement rendered by the trial court that the accused
person is guilty of the crime charged against him.
Substantial Criminal investigation – refers to the knowledge, nature,
and implication of the different crimes that investigator should know and
possess.
Procedural Criminal Investigation- refers to the knowledge regarding
the rules on how pieces of physical evidence should be processed in order
to maintain its integrity during the presentation and be given credit by the
trial court.
Physical Evidence- Refers to any material or substance which is found in
the crime scene and has logical connection to the offense charged and
which aids the investigator in solving the case.
Crime Scene- Is simply the area where the crime took place and where
all pieces of physical evidence were gathered and collect.
Admissibility of Evidence:
Evidence- Is a means sanctioned by the law of ascertaining I a judicial
proceedings the truth respecting a matter of fact.
(Evidence Plays a vital role in the determination of guilt or innocence of
the accused.)
Evidence must be Relevant- evidence is relevant to the matter under
investigation if it has a logical connection to the fact in issue. Ex:( Gun is
relevant to Shooting Incident)
Incident – Might be Planned
Accident – Unplanned
Evidence must be Competent- Evidence is competent when it does not
violate any procedural rules during its collection or when it is not excluded
by the rules of court. Ex: (A unlicensed Firearm seized with warrant is a
competent evidence.)
Object Evidence –Refers to evidence which directly addresses to the
senses of the court. It means evidence which can be brought before the
court as these are actual materials that are recovered from the crime
scene.
Testimonial Evidence – an evidence offered in form of testimony either
by an eyewitness in the commission of the crime or those who have
knowledge regarding the commission of the crime.
Documentary Evidence – These are evidence in document form which
includes some electronic evidence such as text messages, chat messages,
e-mail and some other evidences which are printable.
Direct Evidence – Directly proves the fact in issue or the case under
investigation.
Ex: Birth Certificate is a direct proof of existence,
sex and age.
Circumstantial Evidence- Also known as “Indirect evidence”. These are
Combination of different events which if combined may produce
conviction.
Corroborative Evidence- these are evidences which have different
character from the one previously offered.
Cumulative Evidence – These are evidence which have a similar nature
and character to the one previously offered.
Positive Evidence – An evidence offered by a witness in which he clearly
manifest that an event or scenario exist or did not exist.
Negative Evidence- An evidence offered by a witness in which he is not
certain that an event or scenario exist or did not exist.
Prima Facie Evidence – an evidence offered which may produce
conviction if no rebuttal evidence can be shown.
Rebuttal Evidence – An evidence offered to contradict n evidence
previously offered.
