GR 140823; (October, 2000) (Digest)
G.R. No. 140823 ; October 3, 2000
JUDGE MELVYN U. CALVAN, et al., petitioners, vs. THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS and MAYOR REYNOLAN T. SALES, respondents.
FACTS
On August 2, 1999, Mayor Reynolan T. Sales fatally shot former Mayor Rafael Benemerito in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. He surrendered and was placed under police custody. The following day, a murder complaint was filed against him in the Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) presided by Judge Melvyn U. Calvan. Judge Calvan, who was related within the third degree of affinity to the victim’s wife, complainant Thelma Benemerito, immediately conducted a preliminary examination of the complainant’s witnesses. On the same day, he issued an order and warrant of arrest against Mayor Sales “with NO BAIL.” Sales was subsequently transferred to the provincial jail.
On August 5, 1999, Judge Calvan issued a resolution forwarding the records to the Provincial Prosecutor for appropriate action, terminating his preliminary investigation without affording Sales the opportunity to submit his counter-affidavit. Contending that his detention was unlawful due to the judge’s disqualification and the denial of due process, Sales filed a Petition for Habeas Corpus and Certiorari before the Court of Appeals. He later withdrew the certiorari aspect, leaving only the habeas corpus petition.
ISSUE
Whether a petition for habeas corpus is the proper remedy to question the legality of detention based on a warrant of arrest issued by a disqualified judge following an irregular preliminary investigation.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court denied the motion for reconsideration and affirmed the Court of Appeals’ grant of the writ of habeas corpus. While habeas corpus generally inquires into the validity of detention at the time of filing and is not a substitute for appeal or certiorari, it may be availed of under exceptional circumstances where there is no other plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law.
Here, such exceptional circumstances were present. Judge Calvan was mandatorily disqualified under Section 1, Rule 137 of the Rules of Court and Canon 3.12 of the Code of Judicial Conduct due to his relationship within the sixth degree of affinity to the complainant. This disqualification stripped him of all authority to act in the case, rendering the order and warrant of arrest void. Furthermore, the preliminary investigation was irregularly conducted, as Sales was not given the right to submit counter-evidence.
The normal remedies of a motion to quash or a request for reinvestigation were inadequate and unavailable. The case records had already been forwarded to the Provincial Prosecutor, who lacked the authority to recall the void warrant issued by the disqualified judge. Consequently, Sales’s continued detention under this illegal warrant constituted unlawful restraint, justifying the extraordinary writ of habeas corpus to secure his immediate release, subject to the outcome of a proper preliminary investigation.