Flashcards Studio

(a) Identify the controlling doctrine on the nature and essential requisites of a search warrant under Rule 126, specifically the requirements of probable cause, oath/affirmation, and the description of the place to be searched and things to be seized with particularity.
(b) Distinguish the scope of a search warrant: what it authorizes the police to search and seize, and explain how a misdescription of the place to be searched affects validity.
(c) Apply to the following scenario and decide: A prosecutor obtains a warrant from a municipal judge to search the residence of Maria Santos at No. 98 San Lorenzo Street, Barangay San Isidro, City of Laoag, for unlicensed firearms and to seize firearms and ammunition found therein. The building is a three-unit townhouse; the warrant does not specify the unit. On execution at 3:00 p.m., the team searches Unit 3 and seizes a rifle from a closet and several rounds. The owner of Unit 1 challenges the search as invalid for lack of particularity in the place to be searched. Discuss whether the search is valid and the admissibility of the seized items, and state the remedy, if any.