Practice question
A police team with no custodial role plans to search a named cell for evidence of a particular offense. It calls the operation routine prison management solely to avoid personal judicial examination and particularity. May the label alone eliminate the safeguards?
- Yes, any security label is conclusive.
- No; the actual targeted criminal-investigative purpose and role must be assessed, and mere relabeling does not supply authority.
- Yes, the absence of a custodial role is irrelevant in every case.
- Yes, any inmate forfeits all protections.
- No; even genuine routine custodial searches are categorically forbidden.
Legal references
- https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2021/jan2021/am_rtj-17-2494_2021.html — Re: Motu Proprio Fact-Finding Investigation on Search Warrants involving Mayor Rolando Espinosa, A.M. RTJ-17-2494 and RTJ-19-2557, January 26, 2021, MAIN opinion: routine custodial versus investigative searches.
- https://lawphil.net/courts/rules/rc_110-127_crim.html — Rule 126 sections 4–12: judicial safeguards and implementation requirements.
Answer this question in flashcards to review your response and continue practicing.