THIS SUPREME COURT DECISION IS WORTH MENTIONING, A LOT OF PRIVATE PROSECUTORS ERRONEOUSLY FILED A MOTION FOR REINVESTIGATION.... THE CORRECT ONE ...... All criminal actions commenced by a complaint or information shall be prosecuted under the direction and control of the public prosecutor. The private complainant in a criminal case is merely a witness and not a party to the case and cannot, by himself, ask for the reinvestigation of the case after the information had been filed in court, the proper party for that being the public prosecutor who has the control of the prosecution of the case. Thus, in cases where the private complainant is allowed to intervene by counsel in the criminal action, and is granted the authority to prosecute,] the private complainant, by counsel and with the conformity of the public prosecutor, can file a motion for reinvestigation. In fact, the DOJ instructs that before the arraignment of the accused, trial prosecutors must “examine the Information vis-à-vis the resolution of the investigating prosecutor in order to make the necessary corrections or revisions and to ensure that the information is sufficient in form and substance.” x x x Since no evidence has been presented at that stage, the error would appear or be discoverable from a review of the records of the preliminary investigation. Of course, that fact may be perceived by the trial judge himself but, again, realistically it will be the prosecutor who can initially determine the same. That is why such error need not be manifest or evident, nor is it required that such nuances as offenses includible in the offense charged be taken into account. It necessarily follows, therefore, that the prosecutor can and should institute remedial measures (emphasis and underscoring supplied) The prosecution of crimes appertains to the executive department of the government whose principal power and responsibility is to see that our laws are faithfully executed. A necessary component of this power to execute our laws is the right to prosecute their violators. The right to prosecute vests the prosecutor with a wide range of discretion – the discretion of what and whom to charge, the exercise of which depends on a smorgasbord of factors which are best appreciated by prosecutors.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 23:05:56 +0000
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