CRIMINAL LAW 1 REVIEWER Padilla Cases and Notes Ortega Notes

Criminal Law 1 Reviewer (Padilla cases and notes combined with Ortega Notes)
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CRIMINAL LAW REVIEWER

I. History of the Revised Penal Law Codification Movement -- sought to have all laws codified or written in a single body of aw. Spanish Codigo Penal which, without expressly prohibiting certain acts, impose a penalty on their commission. Note: Non-payment of taxes is merely a civil liability/indemnity. The tax code as it exists today which carries punishments may be considered penal provisions. People vs. Moran Facts: The accused violated the election code and was sentenced by the lower court. He was asking for reconsideration and filed a special motion alleging that the crime complained of had prescribed under the provision of section 71 of Act 3030, enacted by the Legislature on March 9, 1922. Issue: W/N penal laws provide for not only penalty but also prescription. Decision: Yes. Decision: The court found the crime to have prescribed (in accordance with the new law) and set aside the decision. The Election law contained in the Administrative Code and Act 3030 which amended and modified the former, it is evident that the provision declaring that offenses resulting from the violations of said Act shall prescribe one year after their commission must have retroactive effect, the same being favorable to the accused. An exception- to give them retroactive effect when favorable to accused. The exception applies to a law dealing with prescription of crime: Art 22 applies to a law dealing with prescription of an offense which is intimately connected with that of the penalty, for the length of time for prescription depends upon the gravity of the offense. Penal laws not only provide for penalties but also prescriptions. III. Rationale of Penal Laws
A. B.
The royal order dated December 17, 1886, directing the execution of the royal decree of September 4, 1884, wherein it was ordered that the Penal Code in force in the Peninsula, as amended in accordance with the recommendations of the code committee, be published and applied in the Philippine Islands, as well as the Provisional Law of Criminal Procedure which accompanied it. These two laws, having been published in the Official Gazette of Manila on March 13 and 14, 1887, became effective in July 14, 1876. (US. vs. Tamparong)
C. D.
Codigo Penal ng Pilipinas modified the Spanish Penal Code. US Period they tried to translate the Penal code but certain areas were defectively translated Definition of Penal Law and Criminal Law
II.
A. B. C. D. E. F.
Penal laws laws which relates to penalties Criminal laws laws which relates to crimes Felony -- A crime under the Revised Penal Code is referred to as a felony. Do not use this term in reference to a violation of special law. Offense -- A crimes punished under a special law is called as statutory offense. Misdemeanor --A minor infraction of the law, such as a violation of an ordinance, is referred to as a misdemeanor. Crime -- Whether the wrongdoing is punished under the Revised Penal Code or under a special law, the generic word crime can be used.
US vs. Sotto Facts: Vicente Sotto is the director, editor, publisher and printer of a weekly paper. On May 1915, he edited the paper with the intention of attacking them reputation of Lope K. Santos and two other principals of a labor group. He was found guilty of libel. Issue: W/N Sotto was guilty Decision: Yes. Penalties are used to deter people from doing the same crime. A deterrent effect upon others is one of the purposes of the infliction of a penalty for the violation of the criminal law (Exemplarity). People vs. Carillo and Raquenio
Lorenzo vs. Posadas Issue: W/N Art. 3606 of a tax law is a penal law thus can be applied retroactively in conformity with the provisions of Art. 22 of RPC. Decision: A statute is penal when it imposes punishment for an offense committed against the state. Penal Statutes are statutes, which command or prohibit certain acts and establish penalties for their violation, and even those,
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Facts: Carillo was sentenced with death penalty for the crimes of robbery, attempted rape and homicide. His accomplice was only charged for robbing Emma Abaya and Marcelino Lontok. Issue: W/N the penalty for Carillo was justified. Decision: The accused is a dangerous enemy of the society thus, imposition of the highest penalty if justified. Carillo has proved himself to be a dangerous enemy of society. The latter must protect itself from such enemy by taking his life in retribution for his offense and as an example and warning to others. In these days of rampant criminality it should have a salutary effect upon the criminally minded to know that the courts do not shirk their disagreeable duty to impose the death penalty in cases where the law so requires. People vs. Young Facts: Jimmy Young is a hired killer who committed a crime of murder under Art 248 of the RPC. He refused to plea guilty because according to him, his guilt is lighter than those who ordered the killing of Alfonso Liongto. He was sentenced with death penalty in accordance with Art 248 in relation to Art 64 of the RPC. However, RA 296, which was approved 17 June 1948, provides that for a penalty of death is imposed, all justices of the Supreme Court must first concur. Said law is procedural thus can be applied to cases pending at the time of its approval. Issue: W/N Young should be charged with the crime of murder. Issue: W/N the penalty if too harsh Decision: One of the justices dissented, thus death penalty was not imposed. The killing in question was attended by evident premeditation which qualified the crime as murder: (a) it was committed in consideration of a price reward or promise and (b) with treachery. This case also provides the notion of aggravating circumstances (acts that would provide for higher penalties art 14) and mitigating circumstances (provides for lighter penalties art 13). Death penalty was imposed to rationalize the concept of Exemplarity: making a person example to serve as a deterrent) People vs. Revilla Facts: The accused was charged for the crime of infidelity in the custody of the prisoners. Nicasio Junio, the prisoner, was only sentenced to suffer six days of arresto menor only, a penalty that may be served in the house of the offender because of the condition of his health. The municipality also could not feed him Nicasio for lack of appropriation, Revilla then believed that this act in permitting Nicasio to sleep in his own house was not grave in nature, being at most a mere relaxation of the rules prescribed for the care and custody of municipal prisoners. Revilla was charged under Art 223 for his actions.
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Issue: W/N the charge against Revilla is proportionate to the act he committed. Decision: No. His action then was due to a mistaken conception of his duty, hence it is obvious that the penalty imposed against him is notoriously excessive to the extent of being cruel for being out of proportion with the crime committed. The penalty was not proportionate to the evil to be curbed. Retribution, the penalty should be commensurate with the gravity of the offense. The penalty imposed upon the accused for infidelity in the custody of a prisoner sentenced to only six days of arresto menor being excessive, such fact should be brought to the attention of His Excellency, the President of the Philippines for him to decide whether or not it would be convenient to recommend to the national assembly the amendment of art 223 of RPC (conniving with or consenting to evasion) so as to make it more in consonance with the amplitude of the matters that a court must consider in meting out punishment to whoever may have the misfortune f infringing the precept regarding infidelity in the custody of prisoners or detained prisoners. People vs. Galano Facts: Galano was accused of falsification of one peso bill, which he used to purchase four eggs. He was found guilty and was sentenced to suffer intermediate penalty ranging from 10 years and 1 day to 12 years and 10 months. The Solicitor General believes that the punishment is too harsh.
Decisions: The punishment is too harsh and it may not actually serve the purpose of the legislator. Imprisonment may change an individual but it can also expose the person to hardened criminal. Thus, punishments should be applied with care. A copy of the decision was sent to the president for the exercise of executive clemency. IV. Two theories in Criminal Law Classical Theory Basis of criminal liability is human free will and purpose of penalty is retribution An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Oculo pro oculo, dente pro dente.] Man is a moral creature with absolute free will to choose between good and evil, thereby placing more stress upon the effect or result of felonious act than upon the man. Endeavored to establish a mechanical and direct proportion between crime and penalty
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1. 2. 3. 4.
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5. The purpose of penalty is retribution. The offender is made to suffer for the wrong he has done. There is scant regard to the human element.
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provisions of a municipal ordinance. The petitioner was criminally convicted by the trial court for not paying the surcharge. Issue: W/N the petitioner can be prosecuted criminally of her non-payment of the rental. Decision: No. The surcharge for non-payment if not a penalty under criminal law but only an amount added to the usual charge. It is more of an administrative penalty, which can be recovered only by civil action. VI. Common Law Crimes definition: body of principles, usages and rules of action which do not rest for their authority upon any express or positive declaration of the will of the legislature common law crimes are not recognized in the country the codification movement provided for all crimes to be codified, thus, a crime not punishable by law is not a crime at all.
Positivist theory 1. Man is occasionally subdued by a strange and morbid phenomenal which pushes him to do wrong in spite or contrary to his volition 2. Crime is a social and natural phenomenon, it cannot be created and checked by application of abstract principle of law and jurisprudence nor by imposition of penalties, fixed and determined a priori. 3. Rehabilitation by means of individual measures on case to case basis. Advocates personal and individual investigation, conducted by competent body of psychiatrist and social scientist.
B.
A. B. C.
V.
Crimes Definition 1. Felony 2. Offense 3. Infraction of Ordinance (a) When penalty imposed is not an exercise of sovereign power to define crimes and provide punishment.
A.
VII.
Power to define and punish crimes
People vs. Santiago Facts: Defendant was found guilty of killing a seven-year-old boy. He is now appealing the decision stating that Act 2886 of the Philippine Legislature, which provides that all prosecution for offenses shall be in the name of the People of the Philippines is unconstitutional for amending General Order No. 58 which has a character of a constitutional law. Issue: W/N Act 2886 is unconstitutional. Decision: The procedure in criminal matters is not incorporated in the constitution but is left in the hands of the legislature so that it falls within the real of public statutory law. The state has the authority, under its police power, to define and punish crimes and to lay down the rules of criminal procedure. States, as a part of their police power, have a large measure of discretion in creating and defining criminal offenses. People vs. Taylor Facts: The defendant, being the acting editor and proprietor, manager, printer and publisher of Manila Bulletin was accused of committing libel against a member of the Philippine bar. Issue: W/N the defendant is guilty of libel.
De Guzman vs. Subido Facts: de Guzman who is a civil service eligible for passing the civil service exam was disqualified from any appointment for having violated the Jaywalking laws and ordinance concerning cocheros, which according to the lower court constitutes a crime. Issue: W/N said acts constitute a crime Decision: No. A penalty imposed for breach of a municipal regulation does not necessarily constitute a criminal offense. A violation of a municipal ordinance to qualify as a crime must involve a least a certain degree of evil doing, immoral conduct, corruption, malice or want of principles reasonably related to the requirements of the public office. A crime is an act committed or omitted in violation of public laws. Ordinances are not public laws. Criminal acts, in its commission, have some immoral intention. Conde vs. Mamenta Facts: Petitioner refused to pay the new rates of the stall she was holding stating that the increased rate was excessive. The increase is based on the
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Decision: In the Philippines, there exist no crimes called common law crimes No act constitutes a crime here unless it is made so by law. Libel is made a crime here by Act 277 of the US Philippine Commission. However, in order to prove that the defendant is Guilty of the crime, it must be proven that he is the auditor, editor, or proprietor of the said newspaper. There was no proof of this because evidence shows that he is merely the manager. Petition was dismissed. People vs. Pomar Facts: The manager of La Flor granted a maternity leave to Macaria but refused to pay Php 80.00 to which the employee is entitled as her regular wage as stated in Sec. 13 of Act 3071. Issue: W/N Act 3071 us unlawful exercise of police power. Issue W/N Ordinance 394 conflicts with the law. Decision: The police power is the power vested in the legislature of the state to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable laws, statutes, and ordinances, either with penalties or without, which are not repugnant to the constitution as they shall judge to be for the good and welfare of the commonwealth, and of the subjects of the state US vs. Pablo Facts: Andres Pablo, a policeman, reported that he saw Rodrigo and Malicsi in the jueteng arena and then testified on the contrary during the trial. He was charged with perjury and convicted under Act. 1697 which was said to have repealed articles 318 and 324 of the penal code. Issue: Can the defendant be punished? Decision: The right of prosecution and punishment for a crime is one of the attributes that by a natural law belongs to the sovereign power instinctively charged by the common will of the members of society to look after, guard and defend the interests of the community as well as rights of each individual. Imposing punishments should be the last resort: our laws do not merely provide for retribution but it also provides for laws that are in favor of the offender. US vs. Gustillo Facts: Gustillo was already convicted of a crime for illegal possession of firearms. However, another information was filed against him for the same crime but for a different ammunition which he already possessed at the same time and same place the first information was filed against him. Issue: W/N Gustillo may be prosecuted for the second time for the same violation.
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Decision: The prosecution violated the Philippines Bill and Act No. 89 which embody the principle that no person shall be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense because this rule covers as nearly as possible every single criminal act born of a single criminal intent even though more than one crime is committed by said act. People vs. Chong Hong Facts: The defendants were convicted for violation of Ordinance No. 394, which prohibits the playing of jueteng. The court ordered for the dismissal of the case on the ground that said ordinance is null and void for it conflicts with Art 195 of the RPC, which provides for lesser penalties than the ordinance.
Decision: It is admitted that jueteng is already prohibited and penalized in article 195 of the Revised Penal Code. But the fact that an act is already prohibited and penalized by a general law does not preclude the enactment of a municipal ordinance covering the same matter. The rule is well settled that the same act may constitute an offense against both the state and a political subdivision thereof and both jurisdictions may punish the act, without. infringing any constitutional principle. As a general rule, additional regulation to that of the state law does not constitute a conflict therewith. The fact that an ordinance enlarges upon the provisions of a statute by requiring more than the statute requires creates no conflict therewith, unless the statute limits the requirement for all cases to its own prescription. Both the ordinance and RPC prohibit and penalize the same act and the distinction in penalties is necessary because of the peculiar conditions of the locality. Ngo Yao Tit and Chia Eng Cheng vs. Sheriff of Manila Facts: Before the court is an application for the writ of habeas corpus. Petitioners were charged of visiting a house where opium was smoked. They now claimed that the court erred in their decision because it does not have jurisdiction over the case. Issue: W/N the court has jurisdiction to try the case. Decision: It is not a jurisdictional defect and one which deprives the trial court of its authority to try, convict, and pass sentence, that a criminal action is brought in the name of the city of Manila instead of the United States. That fact constitutes a mere defect or error curable at any stage of the action does not deprive the court of the power to pronounce a valid judgment and impose a valid sentence. Offenses committed in the Philippines are crimes against the people of the Philippines.
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1. (a) VIII. Characteristics of criminal law (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) 2. (a) (b)
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Persons subject to Military Law (Art. 2 of the Commonwealth Act No. 408, articles of war) are not immune from suit but are covered by the articles of war. Officers, members of nurse corps and soldiers belonging to the regular forces of the Philippine Army All reservist from the date of theor call to active duty and while on such active duty All trainees undergoing military duty All persons lawfully called/drafted Cades. Flying cadets and probationary third lieutenants Retainers to the camp All persons under sentence adjudged by courts martial As provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application. Example: Bases agreements between US and Philippines and RP-US Visiting Forces Accord. RA No. 75 law of preferential application in favor of diplomatic representatives. It extends the diplomatic privilege to the members of the household and domestic servants that were registered with the DFA The constitution is a law of preferential operation By virtue of principles of Pubic international law these people possess immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the country of their sojourn and cannot be sued, arrested or punished by the law of that country: Absolute Exemptions (a) Sovereigns and other chiefs of state (b) Ambassadors, ministers plenipotentiary, ministers resident, and charges daffaires, ambassadors extraordinary (Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Protocol) Relative Exemptions (c) consuls and vice consuls: honorary consuls not exempted.
A.
GENERAL -- criminal law is binding on all persons who live or sojourn in Philippine territory (art 14, New Civil Code).
People vs. Galacgac Facts: Enrique Galacgac was a naturalized US citizen. He arrived in the Philippines to visit his wife and in his possession is a gun, which is gift to the said spouse. Upon reaching his in-laws home, he and his wife had a fight, which caused his brother in law to beat him on the head. In retaliation, he fired indiscriminately wounding his wifes brothers and sisters. He was accused of attempted parricide but retorted that the Philippines has no jurisdiction over him since he is an American Citizen. Issue: W/N Galagcac enjoys extra-territoriality rights Decision: No. No foreigner enjoys in this country extra-territorial right to be exempted from its laws and jurisdiction, with exception of heads of states and diplomatic representatives who, by virtue of customary law of nations, are not subject to the Philippine territorial jurisdiction. Note: As a general rule, the jurisdiction of the civil courts is not affected by the military character of the accused US vs. Sweet Facts: Sweet was an employee of the US Army in the Philippines. He assaulted a prisoner of war for which he was charged with the crime of physical injuries. Sweet interposed the defense that the fact that he was an employee of the US military authorities deprived the court if the jurisdiction to try and punish him. Issue: W/N Philippine courts have jurisdiction to try Sweet Decision: An assault committed by a military employee upon a prisoner of war is a violation of the general penal law, and as such it imposes criminal responsibility. Jurisdiction of the civil tribunals is unaffected by the military or other special character of the person brought before them for trial, unless controlled by express legislation to the contrary. Exemptions to the Principle of Generality 3.
(c)
Note: a) b) Public International Law and treaties are deemed part of the law of the land. For a person to be immune, he/she must be able to invoke a provision of public international law/treaty; law of preferential application or customary international law.
Schneckenburger vs. Moran Facts: Petitioners is a honorary consul of Uruguay in manila charged with falsification of private documents. He objected on the jurisdiction of the Courts
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of First Instance on the ground that under the Philippine an US constitution, lower courts have no jurisdiction to try him Issue: W/N the lower courts have jurisdiction to try the consul. Decision: It is well settled that a consul is not entitled to the privileges and immunities of an ambassador or minister, but is subject to the laws and regulations of the country to which he is accredited. A consul is not exempt from criminal prosecution for violations of the laws of the country where he resides. Courts of First Instance were vested with original jurisdiction over all criminal cases in which a penalty of more than six months' imprisonment or a fine exceeding one hundred dollars might be imposed. Such jurisdiction included the trial of criminal actions brought against consuls. Time Inc. vs. Reyes Facts: Enrile and Villegas filed a suit against Time Inc for an article regarding corruption in Asia where the two were featured. RA 4363 provides that public officials should file their petitions in the place where they are rendering their service. Villegas filed his petition in Rizal and not in Manila. Issue: W/N the case will prosper and W/N corporations may be sued Decision: The rule is that where a statute creates a right and provides a remedy for its enforcement, the remedy is exclusive; and where it confers jurisdiction upon a particular court, that jurisdiction is likewise exclusive, unless otherwise provided. Hence, the venue provisions of Republic Act No. 4363 should be deemed mandatory for the party bringing the action, unless the question of venue should be waived by the defendant which was not the case here. A corporation is immune from suit but it may, by writ of prohibition, seek relief against the wrongful assumption of jurisdiction. And a foreign corporation seeking a writ of prohibition against further maintenance of a suit, on the ground of want of jurisdiction, is not bound by the ruling of the court in which the suit was brought. WHO vs. Aquino Facts: Respondent judge issued a search warrant for the search and seizure of the personal effects of the petitioner, an official of the WHO. Despite intervention of the Solicitor General and the DFA that Mr. Verstuyft is covered with diplomatic immunity, the judge refused to withdraw the search warrant. Issue: W/N the action of the judge is a violation of RA 75 and thus an abuse of discretion. Decision: Yes. It is a recognized principle of international law and under our system of separation of powers that diplomatic immunity is essentially a political question and courts should refuse to look beyond a determination by 1. 2. 3. 4.
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the executive branch of the government, and where the plea of diplomatic immunity is recognized and affirmed by the executive branch of government as, in the case at bar, it is then the duty of the courts to accept the claim of immunity upon appropriate suggestion by the principal law officer of the government, the Solicitor General in this case, or other officer acting under his direction. Hence, in adherence to the settled principle that courts may not so exercise their jurisdiction by seizure and detention of property, as to embarrass the executive arm of the government in conducting foreign relations, it is accepted doctrine that "in such cases the judicial department of (this) government follows the action of the political branch and will not embarrass the latter by assuming an antagonistic jurisdiction."
B.
PRINCIPLE OF TERRITORIALITY -- As a rule. Penal laws of the Philippines are enforceable only within its territory. If the power to define crimes is the power of the sovereign, it must be followed that such sovereign can only exercise such power within its jurisdiction/territory. Territory Atmosphere Interior Waters Maritime zone
Note: Limits of the territorial sea (by UNCLOS) is only 3 miles from the seashore. What is followed now is the 12-mile rule plus the 12-mile contiguous zone. But for purposes of criminal law, our jurisdiction only extends to the territorial sea. Classification of Vessels: 1. Foreign public vessels war vessels/war ships (ex. Lawton Ship in US vs. Fowler). War vessels are considered to be an extension of the nationality of the owner of said vessel and cannot be subjected to the laws of the state (a) US vs. Fowler Facts: Theft was committed on board a transport while navigating the high seas. The accused were brought to trial and defendants contends that the Court of First Instance have no jurisdiction over the case because the crime was committed in a foreign public vessel and on high seas. Issue: W/N the court has jurisdiction to try the case. Decision: No. Courts of First Instance of the Philippines have no jurisdiction to take cognizance of crimes committed on the high seas on board of a transport or other vessel not registered or licensed in the Philippines. Warships are always reputed to be the territory of the country to which they belong an Foreign Public Vessels
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cannot be subjected to the laws of another state. considered a warship. 2. A US Army transport is US vs. Look Chaw
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Foreign merchant vessels more or less subjected to the territorial laws.
Facts: The defendant was charged with unlawful possession and sale of opium. He was on board the steamship Errol, which was of English nationality, which came from Hong Kong and was bound to Mexico via the ports of Manila. The defense moved for the dismissal of the case on the ground that the courts have no jurisdiction since the act does not constitute a crime. Issue: W/N the courts have jurisdiction over a foreign vessel in transit. Decision: Mere possession of opium aboard a foreign merchant vessel in transit is not triable in the Philippines, because that fact alone does not constitute a breach of public order. The mere possession of opium on such a ship, without being used in our territory, does not bring about in this country those disastrous effects that our law contemplates on avoiding. But our courts acquire jurisdiction when the tunes of opium are landed from the vessel on Philippine sol. Landing or using opium is an open violation of the Philippine laws. (c) US vs. Ah Sing Facts: Defendant is a fireman of the steamship Shun Chang, a foreign steamer, which docked at the port of Cebu. Defendant brought eight cans of opium and upon inspection, authorities found said substances. A charge of illegal importation was served against him. Issue: W/N the crime of illegal importation of opium in to the Philippines was proven. Decision: When a foreign merchant vessel is not in transit because the Philippines is its terminal port, the person in possession of opium on board the vessel is liable, because he may be held guilty of illegal importation of opium. Importation is complete when the ship anchored in the Philippine port. It is not necessary that the opium be discharged or taken from the ship (US vs. Jose). Exemptions to the territorial application of criminal law Foreign Merchant Vessels not in transit
Note: The state is not obligated to give immunity on crimes done in foreign public vessels. This is just a matter of comity. Rules as to jurisdiction over crimes committed aboard foreign merchant vessels while in the territorial waters of another country 1. French Rule such crimes are not triable in the courts of that country, unless their commission affects the peace and security of the territory or the safety of the state is endangered. French courts therefore claim exclusive jurisdiction over crimes committed on board French merchant vessels in foreign ports by one member of the crew against another. (US vs. Bull) English Rule The English only exercise their jurisdiction on issues that involve the internal management of vessel, otherwise, such crimes are triable in that country where they were committed. (US vs. Bull)
5.
Note: In the Philippines, we observe the English rule (a) US vs. Bull Facts: H.N Bull, who was the master of a vessel transporting cattle, carabao and other animals from Formosa to Manila, failed to provide suitable means for securing animas while they are in transit. Such neglect was a violation of Act. No. 275 of the Philippine Commission. Bull contends that the Philippine courts have no jurisdiction over his offense. Issue: W/N the Philippines has jurisdiction over this case. Decision: When a vessel comes within 3 miles from the headland which embrace the entrance of Manila Bay, the vessel is within the territorial waters and thus, the laws of the Philippines shall apply. A continuing crime committed on board a Norwegian merchant vessel sailing to the Philippines is within the jurisdiction of the courts of the Philippine when the forbidden conditions existed during the time the ship was within the territorial waters, regardless of the fact that the same conditions existed when the ship sailed from the foreign port and while it was on the high seas. (b) Foreign Merchant Vessel In Transit Foreign Merchant Vessels
Article 2 of RPC provides that its provisions shall be forced outside of the jurisdiction of the Philippines against those who: 1) Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship.
Note: A Philippine vessel or aircraft must be understood as that which is registered in the Philippine Bureau of Customs. It is the registration of the vessel or aircraft in accordance with the laws of the Philippines, not the citizenship of its owner, which makes it a Philippine ship or airship.
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2) When the offender should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippines or obligations and securities by the Government.
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Note: Counterfeiting or forging Philippine coins or bank notes in a foreign country may be prosecuted before Philippine civil courts. 3) When the offender should be liable for acts connected with the introduction to the Philippines of the obligations and securities mentioned in the preceding number.
Decision: Yes. By virtue of the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the Philippine Islands to the US. It is but a logical construction that wherever "Spain" is mentioned in the Penal Code, it should be substituted by the words "United States" and wherever "Spaniards" are mentioned, the word should be substituted by the expression, "citizens of the United States and citizens of the Philippine Islands." Piracy is a crime not against any particular State but against all mankind. It may be punished in the competent tribunal of any country where the offender may be found or into which lie may be carried. The jurisdiction of piracy unlike all other crimes has no territorial limits. Note: This case is an exception to the exception.
Note: Introducing fake currency in the Philippine is as dangerous as forging or counterfeiting of the same, to the economical interest of the country. 4) When the offender, while being a public officer or employee, should commit an offense in the exercise of his functions.
C.
Note: crimes that may be committed, even in abroad, in the exercise of public functions are: a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) 5) direct bribery indirect bribery frauds against the public treasury possession of prohibited interest malversation of public funds or property failure of accountable officer to render accounts illegal use of public funds or property failure to make delivery of public funds or property falsification by a public officer or employee committed with abuse of his official position.
PRINCIPLE OF IRRESTROSPECTIVITY OR PROSPECTIVITY penal law cannot make an act punishable in a manner in which it was not punishable when it was not committed. At 366 of RPC provide that crimes are punished under the laws in force at the time of their commission. It is logical for laws to look forward and not backward.
Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege -- There is no crime when there is no law punishing the same. This is true to civil law countries, but not to common law countries. US vs. Macasaet Facts: The defendant was proven guilty of selling native wine at retail without the license required by law. He was sentenced to pay a fine and was also sentenced to imprisonment in case of insolvency with respect to the fine imposed. The judge imposed a sentence with heavier penalty in accordance with a new law, which took effect two months after the trial. Issue: W/N Act. No. 1732 which imposed both the fine and the imprisonment should be applied on this case. Decision: No. Inasmuch as Act No. 1732 did not go into force until after the commission of the offense, subsidiary imprisonment can not be lawfully imposed. Penal statutes cannot be made retroactive with respect to a crime, or other offense, unless they are favorable to the person accused. Ex post facto laws Rule: No ex post facto laws shall be enacted. An ex post facto law is one which: (1) makes criminal in act done before the passage of the law and which was innocent when done, and punishes such in act. (2) aggravates a crime, or makes it greater than it was, when committed;
When the offender should commit any of the crimes against the national security and law of nations.
Note: This include, treason, conspiracy and proposal to commit treason, espionage, inciting was and giving motives for reprisals, violation of neutrality, correspondence with hostile country, flight to enemys country, piracy and mutiny on the high seas. People vs. LOL-LO and SARAW Facts: The defendants were charged of the crime of piracy for pirating two Dutch boats as well as raping two of the women. Defendants contend that the provisions of the penal code dealing with piracy are no longer in force. Issue: W/N the provisions of the penal code dealing with the crime of piracy are still in force.
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(3) changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment than the law annexed to the crime when committed; (4) alters the legal rules of evidence, and authorizes conviction upon less or different testimony than the law required at the time of the commission of the offense; (5) assuming to regulate civil rights and remedies only, in effect imposes penalty or deprivation of a right for something which when done was lawful; and (6) deprives a person accused of a crime of some lawful protection to which he has become entitled, such as the protection of a former conviction or acquittal, or a proclamation of amnesty. In re: Kay Villegas Kami, Inc. Facts: The petitioners are assailing the constitutionality of Sec. 8 (a) and 18 of RA No. 6132 saying that it is an ex post facto law. The said law prohibits the petitioners nominee to be nominated in the constitutional convention since he represents a part. Issue: W/N the said law is an ex post facto law and thus unconstitutional. Decision: No. The prohibition against ex post facto laws applies only to criminal or penal matters, not to laws, which concern civil matters. Although section 18 penalizes a violation of any of the provision of RA 1632, the penalty is imposed only for acts committed after the approval of the law and not those perpetuated prior thereto. Bill of Attainder as Ex Post Facto Law People vs. Ferrer Facts: The defendants assail the constitutionality of RA No. 1700 or the Anti Subversion Act on the ground that is a bill of attainder. Issue: W/N the law is unconstitutional Decision: A bill of attainder is a legislative act, which inflicts punishment without trial. Its essence is the substitution of a legislative for a judicial determination of guilt. Section 4 of the Anti-Subversion Act expressly states that the prohibition therein applies only to acts committed "After the approval of this Act." Only those who "knowingly, willfully and by overt acts affiliate themselves with, become or remain members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and/or its successors or of any subversive association" after June 20, 1957, are punished. Exceptions to the prospective application of criminal laws (When penal law apply retroactively) 1. When favorable to the accused
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People vs. Macasaet Escalante vs. Santos Facts: Petitioner was convicted for the crime of estafa and was sentenced to serve for 2 years and 11 months imprisonment to indemnify the offended party. After 3 years, he has not yet been released. He is petitioning for habeas corpus. Issue: W/N the petition is justified. Decision: Yes. The petitioner, having already served for more than three years is entitled to be discharged under the provisions of Art. 22 of the penal code. The principle of the retroactivity of penal laws in so far as it is favorable to the defendant is sanctioned by the Revised Penal Code. Even if the accused is serving final judgment, as long as he is not a habitual delinquent, he can avail of the amended, lighter penalty. (a) Degree of Imposable Penalty is reduced
People vs. Subido Facts: CFI of Manila found the accused guilty of libel and is hereby sentenced to 3 months of arresto mayor with accessory penalties of the law, to pay a fine of 500 pesos, to indemnify the offended party, Mayor Arsenio Lacson in the sum of 10,000 pesos with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency. Appealed to the Court of Appeals. The CA ordered the accused to pay a fine of 500 pesos and indemnity is reduced to 5,000 pesos only. Appellant said that he could not be required to serve the amount of fine and indemnity in the form of subsidiary imprisonment because said judgment did not expressly provide that. This was denied. Sheriff then attached whatever rights, interest of accused in the twostorey building, but the same was registered in the name of Agapito Subido, and so he filed a third party claim enjoining the sheriff to proceed with the sale. Lower court issued a writ of injunction. Lower court states that he should suffer subsidiary imprisonment, even if the same was not stated in the decision of CA. Issue: W/N Subido be required to suffer subsidiary imprisonment, in case of insolvency to pay his civil liability. Decision: No. Accused-appellant is favored by the retroactive force of Art. 39 of the RPC, as amended by R.A. 5465 which exempts an accused person from subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency to pay his civil liability. Considering that Art. 39, as amended is favorable to the accused, the same should be made applicable to him. It is so provided in Art. 22 of the RPC. Applying Art. 39 as amended, he cannot also be required to serve his civil liability to the offended party in form of subsidiary imprisonment because this is no longer required by the aforesaid article.
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Note: Removal of subsidiary imprisonment to pay civil liability (b) Prescribing Grounds for Mitigation or Extinction of Criminal Liability
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Facts: The accused was charged with offense of injurias graves under articles of the RPC. Issue: W/N the new law can apply to the accused. Decision: No. Section 13 of the new act provides as follows: "All laws and parts of laws now in force, so far as the same may be in conflict herewith, are hereby repealed: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall operate as a repeal of existing laws in so far as they are applicable to pending actions or existing causes of action, but as to such causes of action or pending actions existing laws shall remain in full force and effect." The general rule that penal laws shall be retroactive in so far as they favor the accused has no application where the later law is expressly made inapplicable to pending actions or existing causes of action.
Laceste vs. Santos Facts: The petitioner, Clemente Laceste, prays the court to set him at liberty through the writ of habeas corpus, pleading that there is no sufficient legal ground for continuing his imprisonment any longer. With Nicolas Lachica, he had been prosecuted, found guilty, and sentenced to commitment for the crime of rape. Nicola Lachica married the victim, Magdalena de Ocampo, and was accordingly relieved from the criminal prosecution by virtue of section 2, Act No. 1773, and article 448 of the Penal Code then in force, which provided that such a marriage extinguished penal liability, and hence, the penalty. But the petitioner herein continued serving his sentence, which was not affected by the marriage of his coaccused and the offended party. Issue: W/N Laceste should be freed. Decision: It is believed that the Revised Penal Code, Act No. 3815, article 344, last paragraph, applies to the case of the herein petitioner, and that he should be discharged from prison. All penal laws have been declared retroactive by the Honorable Supreme Court. And the Legislature, under section 366 of the New Penal Code, has clearly intended to give retroactive effect to article 22, because section 366 provides: "Without prejudice to the provisions contained in article 22 of this Code, felonies and misdemeanors, committed prior to the date of effectiveness of this Code, shall be punished in accordance with the Code or Acts in force at the time of their commission." If it was not the intention of the Legislature to make the new Code retroactive, it would have used the words "notwithstanding" or "in spite of", instead of "without prejudice." The principle of retroactivity of penal laws in so far as they favor the defendant, has been sanctioned in the Revised Penal Code, as it was in the Code that preceded it. (c) Providing for Prescription of offenses
D.
PRINCIPLE OF LEGALITY: Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege -- There is no crime when there is no law punishing the same. This is true to civil law countries, but not to common law countries; all crimes must be so defined and penalized under the law (art. 21) PERSONAL Penal laws does not allow anyone to assume anothers criminal liability PRINCIPLE OF CERTAINTY every act made punishable by law must be so defined as to leave no penumbra of doubt or uncertainty as to its applicability to a given case. Other fundamental Assumptions of Penal Law Free-will or freedom to choose between right and wrong; no liability if felonious act is committed without free will Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith Limitations on the power of the lawmaking body to enact penal legislation No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted No person shall be held to answer for criminal offenses without due process of law criminal laws must be of general application and must clearly define the acts and omissions punished as crimes.
E. F.
IX.
A. B.
X.
People vs. Moran Exceptions to retroactivity of laws (a) Accused is a habitual criminal (Art. 22) (b) Accused Disregards Later law and invokes prior statute under which he was prosecuted. (c) Later Statute Precludes Application to Existing Actions or Pending Cases Tavera vs. Valdez
A. B.
XI.
Basic Maxims in Criminal Law
A.
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Principle of Pro Reo -- Whenever a penal law is to be construed or applied and the law admits of two interpretations one lenient to the
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offender and one strict to the offender that interpretation which is lenient or favorable to the offender will be adopted. People vs. Alzaga Facts: Roy Alzaga was found guilty by the RTC for the crime of murder. The accused maintained his innocence saying that tit was the victim who accidentally shot himself while they were battling for the gun. There were two witnesses with contradicting testimonies. There were also testimonies which were inconsistent to the guilt of the accused. Issue: W/N the Alzaga should be charged beyond reasonable doubt. Decision: No. Where inculpatory facts are susceptible of two interpretations, one consistent and another inconsistent with the guilt of the accused, the accused should be acquitted since evidence failed to fulfill the test of moral certainty to support a conviction. The court agrees with the accused that where facts are susceptible of two interpretations, then we have to sustain the interpretation, which leads to acquittal. Proof of guilt must convince beyond reasonable doubt. People vs. Ng Facts: The defendant was charged with the crime of forcible abduction with rape. During arraignment, accused pleaded not guilty. RTC convicted the defendant but he appealed contending that evidences were not enough to warrant a conviction. Issue: W/N the evidences were enough to warrant a charge of guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Decision: No. Charge of rape based upon the sole testimony of the one who complains of rape should be regarded with utmost caution and that the person charged with the offense should not be convicted unless the complainant's testimony is impeccable and rings true throughout. The case at bar falls short to the quantum of evidence required to sustain a conviction of rape thereby creating reasonable doubt as to appellant's guilt. The rule is that reasonable doubt in criminal cases must be resolved in favor of the accused. The requirement of proof beyond reasonable doubt calls for moral certainty of guilt - a certainty that convinces and satisfies the reason and the conscience of those who are to act upon it.
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XII.
Construction of penal laws Liberal Construction In Favor of the Offender (a) Reason Note: Ambiguity occurs when an act falls under more than one law or when the law is susceptible to more than one interpretation People vs. Purisima Facts: Twenty six petitions for review were filed by the People of the Philippines involving the information filed charging the respective accused with violation of PD No. 9. The courts of first instances issued an order quashing the in formations filed alleging that the facts failed to state one essential element of the crime Issue: W/N the informations filed by the people were sufficient in form and substance to constitute an offence of illegal possession of deadly weapon penalized under PD No. 9. Decision: No. The informations merely contained the first element that is, carrying outside ones residence of any bladed, blunt or pointed weapon but it failed to include the second element, which is the intention or motivation behind it. This kind of construction is very much open to police extortion thus must be avoided. Penal statues must be construed strictly against the state and liberally in favor of the accused. The reason for this is the tenderness of the law of the rights of individuals; the object is to establish a certain rule by conformity to which mankind would be safe, and the discretion of the court limited. The purpose is not to enable the guilty person to escape punishment through technicality but to provide precise definition of forbidden acts. Penal laws should be construed strictly. No person should be brought within their terms who is not clearly within them nor should any act be pronounced criminal which is not made clearly so be a statute.
A.
See: Principle of Pro-reo
B.
B.
Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea -- The act cannot be criminal where the mind is not criminal. This is true to a felony characterized by dolo, but not a felony resulting from culpa. This maxim is not an absolute one because it is not applied to culpable felonies, or those that result from negligence.
Penal laws are strictly construed against the Government and liberally in favor of the accused (US vs. Abad Santos). This rule may be invoked only where the law is ambiguous and there is doubt as to its interpretation. Where the law is clear and unambiguous, there is no room for the application of this rule (People vs. Gatchalian). (a) When the law is clear, there is no room for interpretation. The task of the court is to apply the
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law. Will not also apply when strict construction will defeat the intent, policy and purpose. If the law is ambiguous, the task of the court of to know the meaning and intention of the law. US vs. Toribio
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(b)
Facts: Defendant was charged for violation of Art. 30 and 33 of Act 1147, which regulates the registration, branding and slaughtering of large cattle without a license. There are two constructions of these prohibitions: (c) The phrase at the municipal slaughter house may be taken as limiting and restricting both the word slaughtered and killed for food in section 30 and killing for food in section 33. The phrase at the municipal slaughterhouse may bet taken as limiting and restricting the words killed for food
Ramirez vs. Court of Appeals Facts: Petitioner filed a case against private respondent, Garcia for allegedly vexing and humiliating her. In support of her allegations, she presented a transcript of her conversation with the respondent. As a result of her actions, respondent filed a case against her for violation of Republic Act 4200, entitled An Act to prohibit and penalize wire-tapping and other related violations of private communication, and other purposes. Petitioner also alleged that private conversation, which she and the respondent had, is not the same with private communication. Issue: W/N there is ambiguity in the meaning of private conversation and private communication. Decision: There is no ambiguity. Legislative intent is determined principally from the language of a statute. Where the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, the law is applied according to its express terms, and interpretation would be resorted to only where a literal interpretation would be either impossible or absurd or would lead to an injustice. The afore stated provision clearly and unequivocally makes it illegal for any person, not authorized by all the parties to any private communication to secretly record such communication by means of any gadget. Gaanan vs. Intermediate Appellate Court (in contrast with Ramirez vs. CA) Facts: This case involves an act of overhearing a conversation by use of an extension line. Issue: W/N there is ambiguity in the phrase "device(s) or arrangement(s)" Decision: The use of a telephone extension for the purpose of overhearing a private conversation without authorization did not violate R.A. 4200 because a telephone extension device was neither among those devices enumerated in Section 1 of the law nor was it similar to those "device(s) or arrangement(s)" enumerated therein. The phrase is ambiguous and the principle that "penal statutes must be construed strictly in favor of the accused." Must be followed. The case of Ramirez turns on a different note, because the applicable facts and circumstances pointing to a violation of R.A. 4200 suffer from no ambiguity, and the statute itself explicitly mentions the unauthorized "recording" of private communications with the use of tape-recorders as among the acts punishable. (d)
Appellant contends that since in his town, there are no slaughterhouses, the prohibitions of Act 1147 does not apply. Issue: W/N the defendant incurred liability. Decision: Yes. The act primarily seeks to protect large cattle from theft; thus, the latter construction should be adopted. When the language if a statute is susceptible of more than one construction, that construction should be adopted which will most tend to give effect to the manifest intent of the legislature. Sec. 30 and 33 of the act prohibit and penalize the slaughtering or causing to be slaughtered for human consumption of large cattle at any place without the permit provided for in sec. 30. US vs. Chico Facts: Defendant was charged for violating sec. 1 of Act. No. 1696 of the Philippine commission which prohibits the display of any flag, banner or device used during the insurrections in the Philippines. He contends that he is ignorant of the law and that the prohibition is only against the actual use of identical banners and devices which were used during the Philippine insurrection. Issue: W/N the accused should be held liable for the violation. Decision: Yes. The contention is nonsense. In cases like this, the court shall resort to the principle that the spirit of the law controls the letter. The intention of the legislature and object aimed at are to control the literal interpretation of a particular language in a statute. Language capable of more than one meaning is to be taken in the sense, which will harmonize the intention and object. When there is ambiguity, and there is doubt as to the subject matter to which the law is to be applied, the preamble may be used.
C.
Cultural environment by which the legislature is operating can also be a source of the meaning as well as the intention of the law.
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Legamia vs. Intermediate Appellate Court Facts: Petitioner has been living with a married man for 20 years and the relationship ended with the death of the man. After the death of husband Emilio, Corazon filed for support for their son. This came to the knowledge of the real spouse thus she filed a complaint against Corazon for using the name Reyes although she was not married to Emilio. Issue: W/N Corazon violated the Anti-Alias Law. Decision: It is in the light of our cultural environment that the law must be construed. Our society is a tolerant one and surely, the lawmakers could not have meant to criminalize what Corazon had done especially because some of them probably had their own Corazons.
Issue: W/N the plea for double jeopardy should be granted. Decision: The third paragraph of article 344 of the Revised Penal Code provides that: The offenses of seduction, abduction, rape or acts of lasciviousness, shall not be prosecuted except upon a complaint filed by the offended party.. It will be observed that the Spanish equivalent of the word "filed" is not found in the Spanish text, which is controlling, as it was the Spanish text of the Revised Penal Code that was approved by the Legislature. Since the first complaint filed was not the complaint of the offended party, it was not a valid complaint in accordance with the law. The judgment of the court was therefore void for lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, and the defendant was never in jeopardy. People vs. Mesias
D.
In the construction or interpretation of the provisions of the RPC, the Spanish text is controlling.
Baking vs. Director of prisons Facts: Petitioner has been in detention for 18 years of preventive imprisonment for the crime of rebellion. He is claiming for allowance for good conduct as provided for by Art 97 of the RPC. Issue: W/N Art 97 of the RP is applicable to detention prisoners or prisoners who are just serving preventive imprisonment. Decision: The term "any prisoner" in the English text of Art. 97 regarding good conduct allowance is, in the Spanish text, "el penado," who is a convict or a person already sentenced by final judgment. There is no doubt that Article 97 does not embrace detention prisoners within its reach. Because it speaks of the buena conducta observada por el penado - not one under "prison preventiva." The allowance for good conduct "for each month of good behavior" then unquestionably refers to good behavior of a prisoner while he is serving his term as a convict and not otherwise. Inasmuch as the Revised Penal Code was originally approved and enacted in Spanish, the Spanish text governs. People vs. Manaba Facts: Manaba was charged with rape. The first complaint was made by the chief of police of Dumagete. The accused was tried and convicted, but the judgment was set aside and the case dismissed on the ground that the court had no jurisdiction over the person of the defendant or the subject matter of the action, because the complaint had not been filed by the offended party, but by the chief of police. The victim then filed the same complaint. This time, Manaba filed a motion to dismiss on the ground of jeopardy for the same offense.
Facts: The defendant was accused of robbing seven sacks of rice and before arraignment, he contended that the term rice does not only mean hulled rice but also includes palay. If the word rice includes the grain in its original state without the hull being taken away, then "rice' is included under the term 'semilla alimenticia' or cereal seed. Therefore, the thing stolen was really hulled rice (arroz) but there is nothing in the complaint which shows that fact. The complaint merely alleges that the object stolen was seven sacks of rice. It may be hulled rice (arroz) or it may be rice seeds (palay). Under the circumstances, the defendant submits that the doubt should always be resolved in favor of the accused. Issue: W/N the phrase "hulled rice" was within the meaning of "semilla alimenticia" as used in the Spanish text. Decision: The English word "cereal", into which was translated the phrase "semilla alimenticia", used in the Spanish text of article 303 of the Revised Penal Code, is incorrect. Inasmuch as hulled rice (arroz) cannot be considered as seedling (semilla alimenticia), the offense with which the appellee is charged in the information does not fall under article 303 of the Revised Penal Code but under the second to the last paragraph of article 302 where the offense therein defined is penalized with arresto mayor in its maximum degree to prision correccional. In cases of doubt in the interpretation of the Revised Penal Code, the Spanish text should prevail. Note: There are already amendments that use English terms. For these amendments, there is no need to go back to the Spanish text. But for those, which remained in their original form, the Spanish text is controlling. People vs. Balubar
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Facts: Balubar was found guilty of the crime of physical injuries by the lower court. The victim lost four of his front teeth. The conflict arose from the ambiguous term any other members which is necessary for the charge. The English text contained loss on any other part of his body while the Spanish text provided the loss of any other member resulting in disfigurement. Later cases seem to suggest that loss of teeth does not constitute disfigurement because it can easily be replaced. Issue: W/N the accused is still liable for his actions. Decision: In this case, Spanish text is given more weight. "Cualquier otro miembro" is more accurately translated "any other member", meaning any other member than an eye, a hand, a foot, an arm, or a leg resulting to "Deforme" or "disfigured". Such is the case at bar. The accused is not relieved of liability from the requisite deforme even if the victim can lessen the deformity through artificial means. One who unlawfully wounds another is responsible for the consequences of his act. David vs. Dancel
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Facts: Petitioner is assailing the promotion of Angel Dancel to Chief of Tax Registration a position to which he claims to be lawfully entitled. He further contends that EO No. 503, which prescribes a minimum efficiency of 85% for promotion, was superceded by the Compilation of Civil Service Laws and Rules under which his rating of 84% is considered a high degree of efficiency. Issue: W/N EO 503 was repealed by Compilation of Civil Service Laws and Rules, an Administrative Compilation. Decision. No. The Compilation of Civil Service Laws and Rules was prepared merely by the Bureau of Civil Service and could not possibly have repealed Executive Order No. 503, series of 1934 since under Article 7 of the Civil Code, "laws are repealed only by subsequent ones and their violation or nonobservance shall not be excused by disuse, or custom or practice to the contrary." People vs. Almuete
XIII.
Repeals
A.
1)
Different effects of repeal of penal law If repeal makes the penalty lighter in the new law, the new law shall be applied, except when the offender is a habitual delinquent or when the new law is made not applicable to pending action or existing causes of action. If the new law imposes a heavier penalty, the law in force at the time of the commission of the offense shall be applied If the new law totally repeals the existing law so that the act, which was penalized under the old law, is no longer punishable, the crime is obliterated.
2) 3)
Facts: The defendant supposedly violated Sec 39 of he Agricultural Tenancy Law which is premised on the existence of the rice share tenancy system. The act of pre-reaping and pre-treshing without notice to the landlord, which was an offense under the Agricultural Tenancy, has ceased to be an offense under the subsequent law, the Code of Agrarian Reforms. To prosecute it as an offense when the Code of Agrarian Reforms is already in force would be repugnant to the policy and spirit of that Code and would subvert the manifest legislative intent not to punish anymore pre-reaping sod pre-threshing without notice to the landholder. Issue: W/N Almuete violated a law. Decision: The Agricultural Land Reform Code superseded the Agricultural Tenancy Law (except as qualified in sections 4 and 35 of the Code). The Code instituted the leasehold system and abolished share tenancy subject to certain conditions indicated in section 4 thereof. It is significant that section 39 is not reproduced in the Agricultural Land Reform Code whose section 172 repeals "all laws or part of any law inconsistent with" its provisions. The prohibition against pre-threshing has no more raison d'etre because the lessee is obligated to pay a fixed rental as prescribed in section 34 of the Agricultural Land Reform Code, or the Code of Agrarian Reforms, as redesignated in Republic Act No. 6389 which took effect on September 10, 1971. Thus, the legal maxim cessante ratione legis, cessat ipsa lex (the reason for the law ceasing, the law itself also ceases), applies to the case at bar.
People vs. Tamayo Facts: The accused was prosecuted for and convicted of a violation of an ordinance. While the case was pending appeal, the ordinance was repealed by eliminating the section under which the accused was being prosecuted. Issue: W/N the absolute repeal obliterated the criminal liability. Decision: The repeal is absolute. Where the repeal is absolute and not a reenactment or repeal by implication, the offense ceases to be criminal. The defendant must be acquitted.
B.
Consequences if repeal of penal law is partial or relative
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(1) If a case is pending in court involving the violation of the repealed law, and the repealing law is more favorable to the accused, it shall be the one applied to him. So whether he is a habitual delinquent or not, if the case is still pending in court, the repealing law will be the one to apply unless there is a saving clause in the repealing law that it shall not apply to pending causes of action. If a case is already decided and the accused is already serving sentence by final judgment, even if the repealing law is partial or relative, the crime still remains to be a crime. Those who are not habitual delinquents will benefit on the effect of that repeal, so that if the repeal is more lenient to them, it will be the repealing law that will henceforth apply to them. Express or implied repeal Express or implied repeal refers to the manner the repeal is done. 1. An implied repeal will take place when there is a law on a particular subject matter and a subsequent law is passed also on the same subject matter but is inconsistent with the first law, such that the two laws cannot stand together, one of the two laws must give way. It is the earlier that will give way to the later law because the later law expresses the recent legislative sentiment. (a) (b) Repeal by implication is not favored There is implied repeal if there are irreconcilable inconsistencies.
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(2)
the latter one having the same object, and which was clearly intended to prescribe the only rule applicable to the subject. If a criminal law deals with the same subject as a prior law and is inconsistent with and repugnant to the prior law, the former is thereby repealed. Where the latter or revising statute clearly covers the whole subject matter of antecedent acts, and it plainly appears to have been the purpose of the Legislature to give expression in it to the whole law on the subject, the latter is held to be repealed by necessary implication. Defendant was acquitted. People vs. Perfecto Facts: Gregorio Perfecto, editor of La Nacion was found guilty of violating Art. 257 of the Penal Code for attacking the virtue of the members of the Senate. Art 256 of the Penal Code provides that any person who by writing, shall defame, abuse or insult any minister of the Crown or other person shall be punished. Defendant questions whether this article is still in force or whether the Libel law already repealed it. Issue: W/N Art 256 is still in force. Decision: The Philippine Libel Law, Act No. 277, has had the effect of repealing so much of article 256 of the Penal Code as related to written defamation, abuse, or insult. Article 256 of the Spanish Penal Code is not now in force because abrogated by the change from Spanish to American sovereignty over the Philippines and because inconsistent with democratic principles of government. Where the later statute clearly covers the old subject-matter of antecedent acts, and it plainly appears to have been the purpose of the Legislature to give expression in it to the whole law on the subject, previous laws are held to be repealed by necessary implication. c. Effects (1) Pending Criminal Action is not dismissed
C.
People vs. Castro Facts: The defendant was charged with injuries graves for sending letter to a medical health officer which contained insults and accusations. The appellant contends (a) that the evidence adduced during the trial did not show that he was guilty of the crime of injurias graves as defined under the Penal Code, and (b) that even though the evidence did show that he had violated the provisions of the Penal Code providing a punishment for injurias graves, he could not be punished, for the reason that said provisions of the Penal Code had been repealed by the Libel Law (Act No. 277). Issue: W/N the penal code provisions were already repealed by the Libel Law. Decision: Provisions of the Penal Code, which define and punish grave insults, when those crimes are expressed publicly in writing, are repealed by Act No. 277-the Libel Law. A penal law, like any other statute, may be repealed either expressly or by necessary implication; and such statute or law is repealed by implication if the later statute is so repugnant to the earlier one that the two cannot stand together or if the whole subject of the earlier statute is covered by
Buscayno vs. Military Commissions No. 1, 2, 6 and 25 Facts: The petitioners were accused of rebellion for having allegedly participated in public uprising to overthrow the government. They were accused of subversion under RA 1700 (Anti-Subversion Law). Sometime of 1976, PD No. 885 which repealed RA 1700 took effect. One of the petitioners contends that her criminal liability was extinguished by the repeal. Issue: W/N in repealing RA 1700, PD No. 885 extinguished the criminal liabilities of persons charged with violation of the older law. Decision: No. That decree, which is the Revised Anti-Subversion Law, in repealing or superseding Republic Act No. 1700, expressly provides in its Section 7 that "acts committed in violation" of the former law before the effectivity of the said decree "shall be prosecuted and punished in accordance
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with the provisions of the former Art" and that nothing in the said decree "shall prevent prosecution of cases pending for violation of" Republic Act No. 1700. That saving or transitory clause is reenacted in section 14(i) of the National Security Code. It is similar to article 366 of the Revised Penal Code which provides that felonies and misdemeanors committed prior to the effectivity of the Revised Penal Code shall be punished in accordance with the old Penal Code and the laws in force at the time of their commission. The fact that Presidential Decree No. 885 does not mention the CPP does not mean that the party is no longer regarded as a subversive organization. The purpose of the party is the decisive factor in determining whether it is a subversive organization. (2) But penalty under second law will be applied if favorable to accused. Express repeal takes place when a subsequent law contains a provision that such law repeals an earlier enactment. (3) Effects of nullity of repealing laws Cruz vs. Youngberg
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Facts: Petitioner attacked the constitutionality of Act No. 3155 which prohibits the importation of cattle from foreign countries to the Philippines. Respondent demurred that even id Act No. 3155 was declared unconstitutional, the petitioner would still be prohibited from importing because Act. No. 3052 which was repealed by Act. No 3155 will be revived. Issue: W/N Act. No 3155 is constitutional. Decision: Yes. An unconstitutional statute can have no effect to repeal former laws or parts of laws by implication, since being void; it is not inconsistent with such former law. It is entirely unnecessary to pass upon the validity of the statute attacked because even if it were declared unconstitutional, the petitioner would not be entitled to relief because of Act. No. 3052. XIV. Distinction between crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code and crimes punished under special laws As to moral trait of the offender In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, the moral trait of the offender is considered. This is why liability would only arise when there is dolo or culpa in the commission of the punishable act. In crimes punished under special laws, the moral trait of the offender is not considered; it is enough that the prohibited act was voluntarily done. 2. As to use of good faith as defense In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, good faith or lack of criminal intent is a valid defense; unless the crime is the result of culpa In crimes punished under special laws, good faith is not a defense
2.
People vs. Soliman Facts: Defendant was accused of perjury under Art 1697. While he was serving his sentence, Act. No. 1697 was expressly repealed by a Section in the administrative code. Accused contends that his criminal liability should be extinguished because of the repeal. Issue: W/N the criminal liability was extinguished because of the repeal. Decision: Section 12 of the administrative code provides that a law, which expressly repealed a prior law, is itself repealed; the first law repealed shall not be revived unless expressly provided. Therefore, the old rule continues in force where a law, which repeals a prior law, is not expressly, but by implication, is itself repealed. Act no. 1697 impliedly repeals Art. 319 of the penal code, which also defines and penalizes perjury. Act. No. 2657 expressly repealed Act no. 1697, thus, the provisions of the penal code is revived. 1.
D.
Consequences if repeal of penal law is express or implied (1) If a penal law is impliedly repealed, the subsequent repeal of the repealing law will revive the original law. So the act or omission which was punished as a crime under the original law will be revived and the same shall again be crimes although during the implied repeal they may not be punishable. (2) If the repeal is express, the repeal of the repealing law will not revive the first law, so the act or omission will no longer be penalized.
3.
As to degree of accomplishment of the crime In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, the degree of accomplishment of the crime is taken into account in punishing the offender; thus, there are attempted, frustrated, and consummated stages in the commission of the crime.
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In crimes punished under special laws, the act gives rise to a crime only when it is consummated; there are no attempted or frustrated stages, unless the special law expressly penalize the mere attempt or frustration of the crime. 4. As to mitigating and aggravating circumstances In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, mitigating and aggravating circumstances are taken into account in imposing the penalty since the moral trait of the offender is considered. In crimes punished under special laws, mitigating and aggravating circumstances are not taken into account in imposing the penalty. 5. As to degree of participation In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, when there is more than one offender, the degree of participation of each in the commission of the crime is taken into account in imposing the penalty; thus, offenders are classified as principal, accomplice and accessory. In crimes punished under special laws, the degree of participation of the offenders is not considered. All who perpetrated the prohibited act are penalized to the same extent. There is no principal or accomplice or accessory to consider.
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Judgment affirmed. The contention of the mayor that he did not profit anything from the transaction, that the contract was advantageous to the municipality, and that he did not act with intent to gain, is not a defense. The crime involved is malum prohibitum. In the case of People v. Sunico, an election registrar was prosecuted for having failed to include in the voters register the name of a certain voter. There is a provision in the election law which proscribes any person from preventing or disenfranchising a voter from casting his vote. In trial, the election registrar raised as good faith as a defense. The trial court convicted him saying that good faith is not a defense in violation of special laws. On appeal, it was held by he Supreme Court that disenfranchising a voter from casting his vote is not wrong because there is a provision of law declaring it as a crime, but because with or without a law, that act is wrong. In other words, it is malum in se. Consequently, good faith is a defense. Since the prosecution failed to prove that the accused acted with malice, he was acquitted. Test to determine if violation of special law is malum prohibitum or malum in se Analyze the violation: Is it wrong because there is a law prohibiting it or punishing it as such? If you remove the law, will the act still be wrong? If the wording of the law punishing the crime uses the word willfully, then malice must be proven. Where malice is a factor, good faith is a defense.
Questions & Answers 1. Three hijackers accosted the pilot of an airplane. They compelled the pilot to change destination, but before the same could be accomplished, the military was alerted. What was the crime committed? Grave coercion. There is no such thing as attempted hijacking. Under special laws, the penalty is not imposed unless the act is consummated. Crimes committed against the provisions of a special law are penalized only when the pernicious effects, which such law seeks to prevent, arise. 2. A mayor awarded a concession to his daughter. She was also the highest bidder. The award was even endorsed by the municipal council as the most advantageous to the municipality. The losing bidder challenged the validity of the contract, but the trial court sustained its validity. The case goes to the Sandiganbayan and the mayor gets convicted for violation of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act). He appeals alleging his defenses raised in the Sandiganbayan that he did not profit from the transaction, that the contract was advantageous to the municipality, and that he did not act with intent to gain. Rule.
In violation of special law, the act constituting the crime is a prohibited act. Therefore culpa is not a basis of liability, unless the special law punishes an omission. When given a problem, take note if the crime is a violation of the Revised Penal Code or a special law. XV. Article 2 Source of RPC (1) Rafael del Pans Correctional Code of 1916 (2) Code of Maruecos (3) Original Draft of German Penal Code of 1913 Where offense punishable under RPC is also punished under military law Piracy is triable anywhere (see Lo-Lol and Saraw)
A.
B. C.
SCOPE OF APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE
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The provision in Article 2 embraces two scopes of applications: (1) (2) Intraterritorial refers to the application of the Revised Penal Code within the Philippine territory; Extraterritorial refers to the application of the Revised Penal Code outside the Philippine territory. The French Rule
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The French Rule provides that the nationality of the vessel follows the flag which the vessel flies, unless the crime committed endangers the national security of a foreign country where the vessel is within jurisdiction in which case such foreign country will never lose jurisdiction over such vessel. The American or Anglo-Saxon Rule
Intraterritorial application In the intraterritorial application of the Revised Penal Code, Article 2 makes it clear that it does not refer only to Philippine archipelago but it also includes the atmosphere, interior waters and maritime zone. So whenever you use the word territory, do not limit this to land area only. As far as jurisdiction or application of the Revised Penal Code over crimes committed on maritime zones or interior waters, the Archipelagic Rule shall be observed. So the three-mile limit on our shoreline has been modified by the rule. Any crime committed in interior waters comprising the Philippine archipelago shall be subject to our laws although committed on board a foreign merchant vessel. A vessel is considered a Philippine ship only when it is registered in accordance with Philippine laws. Under international law, as long as such vessel is not within the territorial waters of a foreign country, Philippine laws shall govern. Extraterritorial application Extraterritorial application of the Revised Penal Code on crime committed on board Philippine ship or airship refers only to a situation where the Philippine ship or airship is not within the territorial waters or atmosphere of a foreign country. Otherwise, it is the foreign countrys criminal law that will apply. However, there are two situations where the foreign country may not apply its criminal law even if a crime was committed on board a vessel within its territorial waters and these are: (1) When the crime is committed in a war vessel of a foreign country, because war vessels are part of the sovereignty of the country to whose naval force they belong; When the foreign country in whose territorial waters the crime was committed adopts the French Rule, which applies only to merchant vessels, except when the crime committed affects the national security or public order of such foreign country. This rule strictly enforces the territoriality of criminal law. The law of the foreign country where a foreign vessel is within its jurisdiction is strictly applied, except if the crime affects only the internal management of the vessel in which case it is subject to the penal law of the country where it is registered. Both the rules apply only to a foreign merchant vessel if a crime was committed aboard that vessel while it was in the territorial waters of another country. If that vessel is in the high seas or open seas, there is no occasion to apply the two rules. If it is not within the jurisdiction of any country, these rules will not apply.
Question & Answer A vessel is not registered in the Philippines. A crime is committed outside Philippine territorial waters. Then the vessel entered our territory. Will the Revised Penal Code apply? Yes. Under the old Rules of Criminal Procedure, for our courts to take cognizance of any crime committed on board a vessel during its voyage, the vessel must be registered in the Philippines in accordance with Philippine laws. Under the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, however, the requirement that the vessel must be licensed and registered in accordance with Philippine laws has been deleted from Section 25, paragraph c of Rule 110 of the Rules of Court. The intention is to do away with that requirement so that as long as the vessel is not registered under the laws of any country, our courts can take cognizance of the crime committed in such vessel. More than this, the revised provision added the phrase in accordance with generally accepted principles of International Law. So the intention is clear to adopt generally accepted principles of international law in the matter of exercising jurisdiction over crimes committed in a vessel while in the course of its voyage. Under international law rule, a vessel which is not registered in accordance with the laws of any country is considered a pirate vessel and piracy is a crime against humanity in general, such that wherever the pirates may go, they can be prosecuted.
(2)
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Prior to the revision, the crime would not have been prosecutable in our court. With the revision, registration is not anymore a requirement and replaced with generally accepted principles of international law. Piracy is considered a crime against the law of nations. In your answer, reference should be made to the provision of paragraph c of Section15 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure. The crime may be regarded as an act of piracy as long as it is done with intent to gain. When public officers or employees commit an offense in the exercise of their functions The most common subject of bar problems in Article 2 is paragraph 4: While being public officers or employees, [they] should commit an offense in the exercise of their functions: As a general rule, the Revised Penal Code governs only when the crime committed pertains to the exercise of the public officials functions, those having to do with the discharge of their duties in a foreign country. The functions contemplated are those, which are, under the law, to be performed by the public officer in the Foreign Service of the Philippine government in a foreign country. Exception: The Revised Penal Code governs if the crime was committed within the Philippine Embassy or within the embassy grounds in a foreign country. This is because embassy grounds are considered an extension of sovereignty. Illustration: A Philippine consulate official who is validly married here in the Philippines and who marries again in a foreign country cannot be prosecuted here for bigamy because this is a crime not connected with his official duties. However, if the second marriage was celebrated within the Philippine embassy, he may be prosecuted here, since it is as if he contracted the marriage here in the Philippines.
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Normally, the taking of the deposition is not the function of the consul, his function being the promotion of trade and commerce with another country. Under the Rules of Court, however, a consul can take depositions or letters rogatory. There is, therefore, a definite provision of the law making it the consuls function to take depositions. When he agreed to the falsification of the deposition, he was doing so as a public officer in the service of the Philippine government. Paragraph 5 of Article 2, use the phrase as defined in Title One of Book Two of this Code. This is a very important part of the exception, because Title I of Book 2 (crimes against national security) does not include rebellion. So if acts of rebellion were perpetrated by Filipinos who were in a foreign country, you cannot give territorial application to the Revised Penal Code, because Title I of Book 2 does not include rebellion. Illustration: When a Filipino who is already married in the Philippines, contracts another marriage abroad, the crime committed is bigamy. But the Filipino can not be prosecuted when he comes back to the Philippines, because the bigamy was committed in a foreign country and the crime is not covered by paragraph 5 of Article 2. However, if the Filipino, after the second marriage, returns to the Philippines and cohabits here with his second wife, he commits the crime of concubinage for which he can be prosecuted. The Revised Penal Code shall not apply to any other crime committed in a foreign country which does not come under any of the exceptions and which is not a crime against national security.
XVI.
Article 3: Felonies
HOW A FELONY MAY ARISE Punishable by the Revised Penal Code
Question & Answer A consul was to take a deposition in a hotel in Singapore. After the deposition, the deponent approached the consuls daughter and requested that certain parts of the deposition be changed in consideration for $10,000.00. The daughter persuaded the consul and the latter agreed. Will the crime be subject to the Revised Penal Code? If so, what crime or crimes have been committed? Yes. Falsification.
The term felony is limited only to violations of the Revised Penal Code. When the crime is punishable under a special law you do not refer to this as a felony. So whenever you encounter the term felony, it is to be understood as referring to crimes under the Revised Penal Code . This is important because there are certain provisions in the Revised Penal Code where the term felony is used, which means that the provision is not
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extended to crimes under special laws. A specific instance is found in Article 160 Quasi-Recidivism, which reads: A person who shall commit a felony after having been convicted by final judgment, before beginning to serve sentence or while serving the same, shall be punished under the maximum period of the penalty. Note that the word "felony" is used.
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PERSON CAUSING INJURY, WITHOUT EVIL INTENTION, MAY BE LIABLE FOR CULBABLE FELONY US vs. Divino Facts: Divino was charged for the crime of lesiones graves for burning the feet Alfonsa believing in good faith that applying petroleum on her sores and ulcers would cure her wounds. Unfortunately, Alfonsa became more injured and deformed after the treatment. Issue: W/N Divino committed a crime considering he acted on good faith. Decision: One who, not being regular practitioner, undertakes to render medical assistance to another person, is liable for any injuries resulting, from such treatment, and the fact that he acted in good faith and according to the best of his ability does not relieve him from responsibility, although his ignorance may be considered as a mitigating circumstance. Divino was held liable for culpable felony because the acts he committed were out of ignorance with the intent to bring about remedy instead of harm. Note: Reckless Negligence means voluntary act without malice. WHEN THERE IS NEITHER MALICE OR FAULT People vs. Catangay Facts: Catangay was found guilty of homicide through reckless negligence. On the night of the crime, Catangay was tasked to negotiate the distance. But as he was nearing the quarry, he accidentally stumbled onan embankment and two shots were discharged, one killing his companion. Issue: W/N Catangay was guilty of reckless negligence Decision: No. The discharge of a firearm that caused the, victim's death having been purely accidental and wholly involuntary on the part of the accused, his action lacks the element essential for holding that it was performed with reckless negligence, which requires that the damage be inflicted without malice but through a voluntary act. In this case, there was no intent because Catangay had a very good relationship with the victim. There was no negligence either because opening the latch while approaching the quarry is very usual for hunters. The embankment cannot also be anticipated. US vs. Ramirez Facts: Pedro Ramirez went on hunting together with two other companions. He asked his two companions to watch over their prey while he looks for
A.
Definition: Felonies are acts and omissions punishable by the law.
Note: The phrase punishable by law is not only constrained to those acts that are punishable by the RPC. Crimes can also be punishable by special laws. Elements: 1. Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege. If there is no law that defines an act as a crime and provides for its penalty, such act is not a crime. Acts may be omissions or commissions; only external acts are punished Omission is synonymous to inaction, the failure to perform a positive duty which one is bound to do. There must be a low requiring the performance of such act.
2. 3.
People vs. Silvestre and Atienza Facts: Martin and Romana were both convicted of the crime of arson by the Court of First Instance. The case of Romana was appealed because there is no strong evidence that can prove that she was an accomplice of Martin. Issue: W/N Romanas act of omission is punishable. Decision: No. Mere passive presence at the scene of anothers crime, mere silence and failure to give alarm, without evidence of agreement or conspiracy is not punishable. Romana was acquitted.
B.
Classification of Felonies Intentional Felonies (a) Act or omission of offender is malicious; act committed by means of dolo (b) Act is performed with deliberate intent. 2. Culpable Felonies performed without malice; act committed by means of culpa (a) Negligence lack of foresight (b) Imprudence lack of skill 1.
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another. After walking for about 50 meters, he seemed to have seen an eye of a deer and shot it. To his surprise, he shot one of his companions. Issue: W/N there is reckless imprudence on this case. Decision: Yes. He performed a voluntary act in discharging his gun, although the resulting homicide was without malice, because he did not have the intention of killing the deceased. But nonetheless, he knew he had two companions, thus, he should have exercised all the necessary diligence to avoid every undesirable accident. Moreover, the eyes of a man is not luminous in the dark thus it would be impossible to mistake it to that of a deer. The fact that the defendant offered to the mother of the deceased a carabao and a horse by way of indemnity indicates that the defendant admitted the commission of the crime although he performed that act without criminal intent and only through imprudence. The accused is guilty of homicide through reckless imprudence. REASON WHY CULPABLE FELONIES ARE PUNISHED People vs. Maleza Facts: Maleza and Adlaon were charged with crimes of falsification of public documents by reason of reckless negligence. Maleza is the municipal treasurer and he certified an account showing payments for the construction of the municipal building. Adlaon signed that he received the money when in fact the money was never for the construction of municipal building but was to be given to Bastes who loaned a sum of money to the municipal president and treasurer. Defendants maintained that falsification does not constitute the crime complained of. Issue: W/N reckless negligence is considered a crime. 3. Decision: Between an act performed voluntarily and intentionally, and another committed unconsciously and quite unintentionally, there exists another, performed without malice, but at the same time punishable, though in a lesser degree and with an equal material result; an intermediate act which the Penal Code qualifies as negligence, or reckless negligence. Felonies are committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but also by means of fault (culpa). Note: Reason for punishing acts of negligence: A man must use common sense, and exercise due reflection in all his acts; it is his duty to be cautious, careful, and prudent, if not from instinct, then through fear of incurring punishment. He is responsible for such results as anyone might foresee and for acts, which no one would have performed, except through culpable abandon. Otherwise his own person, rights and property, and those of his fellow beings, would ever be exposed to all manner of danger and injury. (People vs. Maleza and Adlaon). Mala Prohibita and Mala in Se Mala in Se Acts that are wrong from their nature. 1. 2.
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Rule: There is no need for the pattern analysis for acts that involve public policy (statutory law); no dolo is required (US. vs. Go Chico) Act alone constitutes the offense
US vs. Siy Cong Bien Facts: Defendants Benito Siy Cong Bieng and Co Kong were convicted of a violation of Section 7 of Act. No. 1655 of the Philippine Commission known as the Pure Food and Drugs Act. Benito Siy Cong Bieng appealed for: (a) He did not have any knowledge of the acts done by his agent which was the sale of adulterated coffee. (b) Co Kong was in charge of the store. Issue: W/N defendant Siy Cong Being should be held liable for the actions of his store manager. Decision: Under the Philippine Pure Food and Drugs Act, proof of the fact of the sale of prohibited drugs and food products is sufficient to sustain a conviction of a violation of the statute, without proof of guilty knowledge of the fact of adulteration or criminal intent in the making of the sale. It is a mistaken notion that positive, willful intent, as distinguished from a mere intent, to violate the criminal law, is an essential ingredient in every criminal offense, and that where there is the absence of such intent there is no offense; this is especially so as to statutory offenses. When the statute plainly forbids an act to be done, and it is done by some person, the law implies conclusively the guilty intent, although the offender was honestly mistaken as to the meaning of the law he violates. When the language is plain and positive, and the offense is not made to depend upon the positive, willful intent and purpose, nothing is left to interpretation.
Definition
Intent Violates Minimum required for a person to incur criminal liability
Intent governs. RPC Criminal Intent
Mala Prohibita Acts that are wrong merely because it is prohibited by a statute. Intent is not important. Special penal laws Intent to perpetuate a crime
C.
Crimes punished under special laws.
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4. Good faith can be invoked as defense for violation of the RPC (Mala in Se)
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sufficient to sustain a conviction. Since the offense is malum prohibitum punished by special law, and good faith and absence of criminal intent are not valid defenses. 6. Exceptions to the good faith rule in crimes of Prohibita. Intent to perpetuate the act is required. Mala
Timoner vs. People Facts: The Court of Appeals found the petitioner guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Grave Coercion penalized under Art. 286 of the Revised Penal Code. The petitioner was the mayor of a town and by the recommendation of the Municipal Health Officer, he barricaded some establishments and stalls which protruded into the sidewalk of the Maharlika highway and who were not complying with certain health and sanitation requirement. The petitioner then filed a complaint against the owners of the stalls saying that these stalls constituted public nuisance as well as nuisance per se. The owners of the stalls charged the petitioner with the offense of grave coercion. Issue: W/N the conviction of the court of appeals that the petitioner committed grave coercion is correct the complainants were public nuisance. Decision: The court is in agreement that the complainants were public nuisance for affecting a considerable number of persons in their neighborhood. Petitioner, as mayor of the town, merely implemented the aforesaid recommendation of the Municipal Health Officer. Having then acted in good faith in the performance of his duty, petitioner incurred no criminal liability. Grave coercion is committed when "a person who, without authority of law, shall by means of violence, prevent another from doing something not prohibited by law or compel to do something against his will, either it be right or wrong." The third element being absent in the case at bar, petitioner cannot be held guilty of grave coercion. 5. Good Faith and absence of criminal intent are not valid defenses in crimes punished by special laws (Mala Prohibita)
People vs. Mallari Facts: Mallari was found guilty of illegal possession of firearms. Despite his plea that he already applied for the renewal of his license, which expired some 3 months before he was arrested, a fact corroborated by an office of the constabulary, he was still sentence by the lower court. Issue: W/N the lower court was correct in their decision. Decision: The accused was absolved. In statutory offenses, it is enough that the statue has been violated and that it is not necessary to inquire whether there was intent to violate it. However, for the court can adopt a more liberal view. The spirit of the law regarding possession of firearms is to punish those who possess the same without knowledge of the authorities concerned, and without even bothering themselves to legalize such possession. Where the accused had a pending application for permanent permit to possess a firearm, and such possession was not unknown to an agent of the law who advised the former to keep it in the meantime, any doubt as to his claim should be resolved in his favor. People vs. Mapa Facts: The accused is a secret agent contending that being such; he should be exempted from the law prohibiting illegal possession of firearm. Issue: W/N Mapa should be exempted from complying with the law.
People vs. Orquijo and Ongsod Facts: Orquijo and Ongsod were guilty of the crime of robbery, in addition, Ongsod was also found guilty of the crime of illegal possession of firearms. The testimony of the witnesses were credible and accurate, enough to call for a conviction. Ongsod contends that it was Orquijo who owned the gun and it was merely in his possession when the Philippine constabulary seized it. He further stated that he has every intention of surrendering the gun. Issue: W/N the absence of criminal intent and good faith are valid defenses in crimes punishable by special laws. Decision: No. It does not matter for the conviction of Ongsod that he is the owner or borrower of the gun because this fact has no bearing on his guilt. The mere unlicensed possession of firearm, regardless of the intent of the holder is Decision: As secret agent is not included in the enumeration in Section 879 of the Revised Administrative Code of persons who are not prohibited in Section 878, Revised Administrative Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 4, from possessing any firearm. Appellant is not also exempted from the requirement of license. The first and fundamental duty of courts is to apply the law. Construction and interpretation come only after it has been demonstrated that application is impossible or inadequate without them.
D.
1. 2.
Pattern of analysis in determining criminal liability Was there criminal intent (dolo)? Or was the act done by means of culpa (imprudence/negligence)? Delito Deloso and Delito Culposa
E.
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Elements Delito Deloso (dolo) Freedom Intelligence Intent (a) Delito culposa (culpa) Freedom Intelligence Negligence/Imprudence
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nine years of age but below fifteen may be held liable for a quasi-offense under Article 365. (b) (1) (2) (c) Kinds of Intent general notion of intent motive is not essential in establishing this notion of criminal intent specific notion of intent there is no great difference between specific criminal intent ad motive. Distinguished from Motive
Intent Defined distinguished from discernment
Guevarra vs. Hon. Ignacio Almodovar Facts: Petitioner John Philip Guevarra, 11 years old, was playing with his best friend. They were target-shooting a bottle cap placed with an air rifle borrowed from a neighbor. In the course of their game, Teodoro was hit by a pellet on his left collar bone which caused his death. Fiscal exculpated petitioner due to his age and because the unfortunate occurrence appeared to be an accident. The victim's parents appealed to the Ministry of Justice, which ordered the Fiscal to file a case against petitioner for Homicide through reckless Imprudence. The petitioner was in position that "discernment" connotes "intent". The Solicitor General insists that discernment and intent are two different concepts. Issue: 1. 2. W/N an eleven (11) year old boy could be charged with the crime of homicide thru reckless imprudence. W/N the term "discernment", as used in Article 12(3) of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) is synonymous with "intent."
WHEN MOTIVE IS RELEVANT People vs. Dorico Facts: Romualdo Dorico, Dionisio Ballonico and Fernando Dorico were all found guilty beyond reasonable doubt for murdering Gervacio Dapulag and was sentenced each with death penalty. The three were said to have killed the accused because he insisted on filing a criminal complaint against Romualdo for the killing of his nephew. Dionisio said that he was merely a bystander and did not participate in the crime Issue: W/N motive is relevant to establish guilt Decision: It is true that no motive has been shown why he would kill Gervacio Dapulag, but this Court has repeatedly held that motive is pertinent only when there is doubt as to the identity of the culprit. This not a situation which falls under who had done it since DIONISIO BALLONICO was positively identified by credible witnesses as one of the assailants of the victim. Proof of motive is not essential for conviction. There was no reason shown why the witnesses for the prosecution would foist a crime on DIONISIO BALLONICO if he did not really commit it. Disclosure of motive is an aid in completing the proof of the commission of the crime. Note: Circumstantial Evidences defined: indirect evidence; fact that was seen in the vicinity of the crime; an aid to the prosecution; proof of crime US vs. Go Foo Suy Facts: Fire broke out in house no. 30. After some time, fire also broke out in House no. 26, which was just across the passageway from House No, 30. The accused had dry goods store in house no. 26. However, witnesses testified that the fire in House no. 26 broke out when the fire in House no. 30 was about to be put out. While the firefighters were trying to break into the storeroom, they heard something moving. When they got inside, they found a hole, which supported the fact that someone, set fire on house no. 26.
Decision: The two terms should not be confused. It is clear that the terms "intent" and "discernment" convey two distinct thoughts. While both are products of the mental processes within a person, the former refers to the desired of one's act while the latter relates to the moral significance that person ascribes to the said act. Hence a person may not intend to shoot another but may be aware of the consequences of his negligent act, which may cause injury to the same person in negligently handling an air rifle. Discernment constitutes an exception to the exemption from criminal liability of a minor under fifteen years of age but over nine, who commits an act prohibited by law, is his mental capacity to understand the difference between right and wrong. In evaluating felonies committed by means of culpa, three (3) elements are indispensable, namely, intelligence, freedom of action, and negligence. Obviously, intent is wanting in such felonies. However, intelligence remains as an essential element, hence, it is necessary that a minor above nine but below fifteen years of age be possessed with intelligence in committing a negligent act which results in a quasi-offense. For him to be criminally liable, he must discern the rightness or wrongness of the effects of his negligent act. Indeed, a minor over
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Issue: W/N the accused was guilty of arson. Decision: The accused were found guilty of the crime. The fact that the defendants owned a stock of goods, that it was insured for three times its value, and that their business operations over a period approximately eighteen months just prior to the fire had resulted in a considerable loss, furnishes a powerful motive for the commission of the crime (circumstantial evidence). The appellants had been conducting their business at a loss for nearly 18 months. The success of their crime meant that they would receive about twice the value of their stock of goods and thus converting a losing investment into a profitable one. Lack of motive may be an aid in showing the innocence of the accused Issue: W/N the motive is needed to convict the defendants. People vs. Taneo Facts: Potenciano Taneo was accused of parricide for killing his wife, and wounding his father in law and two of their guests. It appears from the evidence that that the day before the commission of the crime, the accused had a fight with Enrique Collantes and Valentin Abadilla, who invited him to come down and fight, and when he was about to go down, he was stopped by his wife and his mother. On the day of the commission of the crime, it was noted that the defendant was not feeling well, thus, he went to bed and slept. The defendant states that when he fell asleep, he dreamed that Collantes was trying to stab him with a bolo while Abadilla held his feet, by reason of which he got up; and as it seemed to him that his enemies were inviting him to come down, he armed himself with a bolo and left the room. Issue: W/N the defendant is guilty of the crime of parricide. Decision: No. The defendant was not held liable for the crime. A person who suddenly hot up in his sleep left the room with a bolo in his hand, and upon meeting with his wife who tried to stop him, wounded her abdomen and attacked other, for having acted in a dream; he had no criminal intent. An extreme moral perversion may lead a man to commit a crime with a real motive but just for the sake of committing it. Or, he apparent lack of a motive for committing a criminal act does not necessarily mean that there are none, but that simply they are not known to us, for we cannot probe into the depths of one's conscience where they may be found, bidden away and inaccessible to our observation. WHEN MOTIVE IS IRRELEVANT When assailant is positively identified People vs. Diva
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Facts: Maximo Diva and his wife were accused of murdering Ananias Bano. Their dispute was regarding boundaries of the adjoining lands they own. On the day the crime was committed, Maximo and Cesaria Diva conspired to attack the victim. Before the victims life expired, he was able to tell his wife who his attackers were. Maximo and Cesaria contended that it was Ananias who first attacked them and that Maximo merely defended himself. Maximo also contended that the trial court erred in saying that the motive of the killing was a land case because he has no interest therein since it was his father who was the plaintiff in the said case. Even if there is such motive, it is not a sufficient ground for him to ambush, attack and kill Ananias. Since the prosecution was not able to establish the motive, Maximo claims that he should not be convicted of the crime.
Decision: No. Motive is not important to have a conviction. The question of what motive is sufficient to impel one to commit a particular act is always relative and no fixed norm of conduct can be said to be decisive of every imaginable case. But motive is unessential to conviction in murder cases when there is no doubt as to the identity of the culprit or where the offender had admitted the deed; and the failure of the prosecution to establish motive is completely inconsequential. Where, as in this case, the identity of the appellant as the author of the killing is not disputed as he admitted having killed the deceased, his motive in committing the act becomes irrelevant to his conviction and the failure of the State to establish his motive is of no moment. Note: When assailant is positively identified, motive need not be established HOW MOTIVE IS PROVED; MOTIVE ALONE IS NOT PROOF OF CRIME US vs. Ramirez It must be noted that there could be no motive in this case because Ramirez and the victim were good friends. The act could not have been done deliberately. PROOF OF MOTIVE CONVICTION People vs. Marcos Facts: Mariano Marcos, his son Ferdinand Marcos and brother in law, Quirino Lizardo were accused for the murder of Julio Nalundasan, Marianos archrival. During the 1935 elections, Julio won over Mariano for the office of representative of Ilocos Norte. During the victory parade, Julios men were said ALONE IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT
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to have passed over Marianos house to humiliate the defeated candidate. The following night, Julio was found dead. The Marcoses and Lizardo became the suspects. The primary witness of the prosecution was Lizardos bodyguard who said that he was there when the crime was committed and the motive was said to be the victory parade before Julios death. Issue: W/N the parade was a sufficient motive to warrant a sentence. Decision: No. While the defeat of Marcos followed by such insulting parade, might have irritated the herein defendants, the existence of a motive alone, though perhaps an important consideration, is not proof of the commission of a crime, much less of the guilt of the defendants-appellants. By and large, the court found the testimony of Aguinaldo to be inherently improbable and full of contradictions in important details, thus it shall be discredited. It is neither necessary nor profitable to examine the corroborative evidence presented by the prosecution. Where the principal and basic evidence upon which the prosecution rests its case fails, all evidence intended to support or corroborate it must likewise fail. (d) When crimes may be committed without criminal intent
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Revised Penal Code, criminal liability is incurred by any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful act done be different from that which he intended to do. In the words of Viada, in order that an act may be qualified as imprudence it is necessary that neither malice nor intention to cause injury should intervene; where such intention exists, the act should be qualified by the felony it has produced, even though it may not have been the intention of the actor to cause an evil of such gravity as that produced. The qualifying circumstance of treachery may properly be considered, even when the victim of the attack was not the one whom the defendant intended to kill, if it appears from the evidence that neither of the two persons could in any manner put up a defense against the attack, or became aware of it. In criminal negligence, the injury caused to another should be unintentional, it being simply the incident of another act performed without malice. People vs. Nanquil GR No. 17933 March 23, 1922 Facts: Nanquil was investigating a certain Severino Ramiscal for the theft of Juan Rosass carabao. During the investigation, Nanquil struck Severino with his gun. As a consequence, the victim died after a few moments. Issue: W/N the accused should be charged with a crime of homicide through reckless imprudence. Decision: Yes. The accused having had no intention to commit so serious an evil as that which resulted, the crime committed by him cannot be that of homicide through reckless imprudence, because he did have the intention to do some evil unlawfully (maltreating the deceased), and this intention, although it was not that of killing, is inconsistent with reckless imprudence. (f) (g) (h) in both, acts are voluntary (People vs. Ramirez) Acts that are negligently executed are voluntary Intent is shown by overt acts
FELONIES COMMITED BY MEANS OF CULPA See: US vs. Divino OFFENSES PUNISHABLE AS MALA PROHIBITA (e) Intentional and Culpable Felonies Distinguished
People vs. Guillen GR No. L-1477 January 18, 1950 Facts: Julio Guillen was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder and multiple frustrated murder. According to the accused, he was extremely disappointed in President Roxas for his alleged failure to redeem his promises made by him during the presidential election. Hence, he was determined to assassinate the president. He carried two hand grenades in Plaza Miranda and hurled it on the stage where the president was making a speech. General Castaneda, upon seeing the grenade, kicked it away from the platform. When the grenade exploded, it injured Simeon Varela and four other men. Simeon died because of the injuries he sustained. Issue: W/N Julio Guillen is guilty of the crime charge considering that it was the president which he intended to kill and not Simeon Varela. Decision: Yes. In throwing a hand grenade at the President with the intention of killing him, the appellant acted with malice. He is therefore liable for all the consequences of his wrongful act; for in accordance with article 4 of the
People vs. Mabug-at Facts: The accused and Juana Buralo were sweethearts. One day, the accused invited Juana to take a walk with him, but the latter refused on account of the accused having frequently visited the house of a certain Carmen. Later on, the accused went to a house where Juana had gone to take part in some devotion. Thereafter, the accused threatened that if Juana refuses to see him, he will enter the house, get the gild and kill anyone who would stop him. After the devotion, the accused followed the girl and her niece on their way home. When they were about to go up their house, the accused fired a shot intended for Juana but which wounded Perfecta instead. Issues: W/N the accused is guilty of frustrated murder.
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Decision: Yes. Although the mere act of firing at a person is not proof per se of intent to kill, yet when the surrounding circumstances of the act are such that they leave no room for doubt that the intention was to kill the person fired upon, the crime is not simply "discharge of firearm," but homicide or murder as the case may be. The qualifying circumstance of treachery may properly be considered, even when the victim of the attack was not the one whom the defendant intended to kill, if it appears from the evidence that neither of the two persons could in any manner put up a defense against the attack, or become aware of it. (i) Criminal Intent Presumed from Commission of the crime
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person. In this case, it was not proven that the accused justice of peace used the money for personal use. US vs. Ah Chong Facts: Defendant was a cook and the deceased was a house boy, and both were employed in the same place and usually slept in the same room. One night, after the defendant had gone to bed, he was awakened by some one trying to open the door, and called out twice. Believing that he was being attacked, he seized a kitchen knife, struck and fatally wounded the intruder, who turned out to be his roommate. Issue: W/N Ah Chong should be acquitted because of mistake of fact. Decision: Under such circumstances, there is no criminal liability, provided that the ignorance or mistake of fact was not due to negligence or bad faith. In other words, if such ignorance or mistake of facts is sufficient to negate a particular intent which, under the law, is a necessary ingredient of the offense charged it destroys the presumption of intent and works an acquittal; except in those cases where the circumstances demand a conviction under the penal provisions governing negligence, and in cases where, under the provisions of article 1 of the Penal Code, a person voluntarily committing an act incurs criminal liability even though the act be different from that which he intended to commit. The circumstances proved that in Ah Chongs mind, he was being attacked, regardless of the circumstances outside him. Would the facts been as he though them to be, there would have been no crime. Mistake of fact indicates good faith. Good faith negates intent. Without intent, there is no crime. Note: 1. 2.
Mistake of fact while ignorance of the law excuses no one (ignorantia legis non excusat), ignorance or mistake of fact relieves tha accused from criminal liability (ignoratia facti excusat) MISTAKE OF FACT AS A DEFENSE People vs. Catolico GR No. 6486 02 March 1911 Facts: The defendant, a justice of peace, was charged of malversation of public funds. He rendered decisions in certain cases, each one for damages resulting from a breach of contract, from which the defendants appealed. As required by law, the defendants deposited Php 16.00 and a bond of Php 50.00 for each case. It appeared that the sureties on the said bonds were insolvent and that the defendants did not present new bonds within the time fixed by the accused as justice of peace. Upon petition of the plaintiffs, the accused dismissed the appeals and ordered said sums attached and delivered to the plaintiffs in satisfaction of the judgment. The accused was prosecuted for malversation, a felony under Art. 217. Issue: W/N the accused was guilty of the said crime considering that his actions were not contrary to law. Decision: That act of the accused, in permitting the sums deposited with him to be attached in the satisfaction of the judgment rendered by him, was not unlawful. Everything he did was in good faith under the belief that he was acting judiciously and correctly. The act committed, so far as appears form the record, at most a pure mistake of judgment, an error of the mind operating upon a state of facts. A crime is not committed if the mind if the person performing the act complained of be innocent (actus non facit reum, nisi mes sit rea). Good faith is a defense and in this case, there is good faith. Good faith negates intent. When there is no intent, there is no crime. Note: It is a prima facie evidence in Malversation that such missing funds or property have been put to personal use or used for personal ends by such
3. 4.
Lack of intent to kill the deceased, because the intention was to kill another, does not relieve the accused from criminal responsibility (People vs. Gona). In mistake of fact, the intention of the accused in performing the act should be lawful. There is no crime of resistance when there is a mistake of fact (US vs. Bautista) When the accused is negligent, mistake of fact is not a defense. (People vs. Fernando)
Good faith has many sources (a) Mistake of fact (b) Act is lawful The point is: when good faith is established, it negates criminal intent. No criminal intent, no crime.
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People vs. Formaran No. 12089-CR Facts: Formaran was accused of a crime of perjury for having sworn to a Civil Service Form No. 1 before a notary public that he was never accused of a violation of any law before any court or tribunal, when the truth and in fact he had been charged with the offense of unjust vexation in a criminal case before the Justice of the Peace Court. When he testified in his defense, the defendant claimed that he answered No to the question whether he had been accused of a violation of any law, because he relied on the opinion of the provincial fiscal that unjust vexation does not involve moral turpitude and he thought it was not necessary to mention it in Civil Service Form No. 1. It appeared that he was previously prosecuted twice for perjury for answering NO to the same question but he was acquitted on the first case and the second case was dismissed. Issue: W/N Formaran was unjustly prosecuted on the case at bar. Decision: No. it was held that in view of the factual background of the case, the act of the defendant in answering no to the question can be considered only as an error of judgment and did not indicate an intention to commit the crime of perjury. The defendant was not liable for the crime because he had no intent to commit the crime. Note: Lack of intent to commit a crime may be inferred from the facts of the case. People vs. Penalosa GR No 424 January 27, 1902 Facts: A minor married without parental consent, in violation of Art 475 of he old Penal Code which punished any minor who shall contract marriage without the consent of his or her parents. The women believed that she was born in 1879; that so her parents gave her to understand ever since she was young; and she did not ask them concerning her age. In the same instance, the husband relied on the statement of his wife that she is of age when they got married. Issue: W/N the husband and the wife violated the said provision of the Penal code Decision: A minor who marries without parental consent in the false belief that she is of age is not criminally responsible. It is not criminal negligence for a husband to rely upon his wife's statement of her age nor for the wife to rely upon that of her father. In effect it suffices to remember the first article, which states that where there is no intent there is no crime. In order to assert without fear of mistake that in our Code the substance of a crime does not exist if there is not a deed, an act that falls within the sphere of ethics if there is not a moral wrong. One cannot be convicted under Art. 475 when by reason of a mistake
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of facts there does not exist the intention to commit the crime. Mistake of fact establishes good faith because have the facts been as she thought them to be, the act would have been lawful. Good faith negates intent. When there is no intention, there is no crime. Good faith is transferable (in this case, to the husband). Note: There is no felony by dolo if there is no intent. People vs. Coching Facts: Coching and several others were accused of falsification of public document and violation of the election code. Conching and the others sincerely believed that booklets 4100 to 4120 were sample ballots because three ballots from the booklet were detached and two ballots were used to cover the openings of the boxes that was given to them before the election. They have no way of checking since the receipt copy signed by Coching when he received the ballots were not given to them. Thus, they did not include in the counting booklets 4100 to 4120. Issue: W/N Coching and the others are guilty of the crime charges. Decision: No. The lower court was in agreement that the defendants did not intend to perpetuate the act. But according to them, since the act is malum prohibitum against a law/statute, intention is immaterial. The Court is in disagreement with this notion. The act, according to the court, being an act mala prohibita has no bearing on the case because this is not a case of willful or conscious violation of a penal statue, nor of ignorance of the law. The case at bar is a case of ignorance of the fact. The defendants are in honest belief that the series of unused ballots were not official but sample ballots. Upholding the maxim ignorantia facti excusat as established in People vs. Oanis. The courts should judge the accused not by the facts as they later turned out to be but what they believed to be as facts at the time of the offense and the conditions obtaining them (US vs. Ah Chong). Defendants were acquitted. MISTAKE OF FACT NOT A DEFENSE See: People vs. Oanis People vs. de Fernando GR No 24978 27 March 1926 Facts: The accused, a policeman, was informed that three convicts had escaped. The residents of the barrio were alarmed of the news. While doing rounds in the barrio, he was called by the daughter of a certain Delgado to inform him that three unknown persons were prowling around their house. After some time, they saw a person going up the stairs dressed in dark clothes and carrying a bolo. Accused called out to the person to identify himself. The person, did not answer thus, de Fernando fired a shot in the air. As the unknown person continued to ascend the stairs and believing that he was one
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of the escaped convicts, the accused fired directly at the man who turned our to be the nephew of the house. Issue: W/N de Fernando was guilty of homicide through reckless negligence. Decision: Yes. An agent of the law, to whom notice had been given of the presence of suspicious looking persons, who might be escaped prisoners from a nearby penitentiary, prowling around the vicinity, and who enters a house to keep watch, and later in the evening sees a person with a bolo in hand approaching the house in the -attitude of going up the stairs, who does not answer the challenge of the officer of the law, and continues his advance notwithstanding that the latter had fired a shot into the air, and the said agent of the law considering that the said stranger has not been recognized by any person in the household, and thinking him to be an evil-doer, shoots and kills him, is not guilty of murder or homicide. He however, acted with reckless negligence in failing to exercise the ordinary diligence that, under the circumstances, he should have exercised by inquiring of the occupants of the house whether the stranger was known to them, as he seemed to have called somebody in the house, or was really what be thought him to be, before shooting him, which makes said officer guilty of homicide through reckless negligence.
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PEOPLE vs. SALINAS 62 O.G. 3186 Facts: Crisanto Salinas was charged for the death of Jaime Tibule. Jaime died after falling from his mothers hold while the mother was freeing his father from Crisantos hold. Crisanto was holding the victims grandfather in order to prevent him from fighting with the defendants father. Issue: W/N Crisanto should be liable for the death of the baby Decision: No. The accepted rule is that an offender is always liable for the consequence of his criminal action even though the result be different from what he intended. Under the circumstances, it cannot be held that the accused was committing a crime and it cannot be said that the death of the child was a direct result of a crime. The act being lawful, there could have been no crime committed. The defendant was acquitted. (b) US vs. VALDEZ Wrong done is direct, natural, logical consequence of felony committed
XVII.
Article 4: Criminal Liability
A.
1.
Committing a felony even if the consequences are unintended Elements: (a) Felony is committed
Facts: The accused was not satisfied with the slow raising of the anchor which caused him to abuse his men with offensive language. One of the crew remonstrated that they would be able to work better if the accused stops insulting them. Infuriated, the accused moved towards the victim with big knife threatening to stab him. The victim, believing that he is going to be killed, threw himself in water and never resurface. Issue: W/N the defendant should be liable for his crews death Decision: Yes. The crews death was a consequence of the defendants action. If a person against whom, a criminal assault is directed reasonably believes himself to be in danger of death or great bodily harm, a d in order to escape jumps into water, impelled by the instincts of self-preservation, the assailant us responsible for homicide in case death results by drowning. PEOPLE vs. QUIANSON 62 PHIL. 162 Facts: The defendant, was convicted of a crime of homicide for the death of Andres Aribuabo, a deranged person who constantly asked for food from the former. The defendant took hold of a firebrand and applied it to the abdomen of the man who pestered him. Victim was treated in the hospital but died. Defendant contends that the victim would have survived if he did not remove the drainage placed to isolate the infection. Issue: W/N Quianson should be held liable for the death of the victim
PEOPLE vs. BINDOY Facts: The accused was charged of the crime of homicide for wounding with his bolo Emigdio who was merely a spectator of the fight, which ensued between the defendant and a certain Pacas. Issue: W/N Bindoy should be charged for killing Emigdio Decision: The appellant should be acquitted since there is no evidence, which shows that Emigdio took part in the fight. Neither was there any indication that the accused was aware of the victims presence. Had the defendant tried to wound his adversary and instead had bit the bystander, he would, of course, have had to answer for his criminal act. But in view of the evidence, the injury was accidental and the defendant should be acquitted. (1) When act is lawful
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Decision: One who inflicts an injury on another is deemed by law to be guilty of homicide if the injury contributes mediately or immediately to the death of the victim. The fact that other causes contribute to the death does not relieve the actor of responsibility. As the wound, which the appellant inflicted upon the deceased, was the cause, which determined his death, it is evident that the act in question should be qualified as homicide. (1) PEOPLE vs. ILLUSTRE 54 PHIL. 544 Facts: The defendant, who was in charged in making sure that the roasted pig will not be consumed before the end of the parade gave a blow to Juan Magsino who tried getting a piece of the pig. Juan died of internal hemorrhage and contusion on the liver. Issue: W/N the defendant should be held liable for the death of the victim. Decision: Yes. It was the defendants blow in the right hypocondrium, which bruised the liver and produced internal hemorrhage. That the victim had a delicate condition and suffered from incipient tuberculosis does not affect criminal liability of the defendant who gave him a severe blow, which was the cause of the death; even of the weakened condition made the blow more fatal, the efficient cause of the death remains the same. There was no intent but this does not extinguish the crime. (2) Blow was proximate cause of death PEOPLE vs. REYES 61 PHIL. 341 Facts: The appellant and victim were having an illicit relationship. When the victim tried to end their affair, the appellant dragged the deceased towards the streets and stabbed her in the chest with the fan knife. The victim was said to have died from shock. Issue: W/N the appellant should be acquitted considering the fact that the wound was only a slight one Decision: No. In this jurisdiction, it is a well settled that such is not the law. A person is responsible for the consequences of his criminal act even of the deceased have been shown to be suffering from a deceased heart (which was not shown). Appellants assault being the proximate cause of the death, he should be responsible. The girl died from shock as a result of the wound inflicted by the defendant. Blow was efficient cause of death
There is intention in the commission of the crime because when a person who stabs another with a lethal weapon, death could reasonable be anticipated. The accused is presumed to have intended the natural consequences of the wrongful act. (i) How proximate cause is determined
VDA. DE BATACLAN, ET AL. vs. MEDINA 102 PHIL. 181 Facts: The victim, husband of the petitioner, died from the explosion of the bus of which he was a passenger. Before the explosion, the vehicle zig-zagged into a canal, causing said bus to overturn. Due to overturning of the bus, the gasoline leaked soaking the soil underneath thus, when the rescuers came with torches came near the bus; the bus was set on fire. Issue: W/N the overturning of the bus was the proximate cause of the death. Decision: Yes. The reason that when the vehicle turned, the leaking of the gasoline was the natural consequence. It was also natural that the rescuers would innocently approach the bus to extend aid. Thus, the burning of the bus was a natural cause and should be attributed to the negligence of the driver and the conductor. (ii) Definition URBANO vs. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT 157 SCRA 1 Facts: Urbano was charged for the crime of homicide for the death of Marcelo Javier. A fight ensued between the two when Urbano learned that Javier opened the floodgates thereby causing his palay to be flooded. Marcelo was only hit in the palm and while the wound was healing, the victim continued working. After 22 days, he died from tetanus. Issue: W/N the hacking incident can be considered a proximate cause of Marcelos death. Decision: No. Proximate cause it the case, which in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces injury, and without which, the result would not have occurred. The hacking incident could not have been the cause of the victims death since the tetanus appeared only on the 22 nd day after the hacking incident. It is possible that the victim may have been inflicted with a mild tetanus but since Javier died only two or three days from the onset, it is logical to assume that there may be other causes other than the hacking incident. It is a rule that in criminal conviction, the proof that the accused caused the victims death must
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convince a rational mind beyond reasonable doubt. Since there may be other efficient causes of the death, the accused should be acquitted. (iii) When felony committed not proximate cause: (3) Intervening active force, which is distinct and absolutely foreign to felonious act of accused (i) Resulting injury is due to intentional act of victim (ii) Death attributable to fever prevalent in locality
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Decision: When the fact is well established that the accused struck the victim twice with his fist, in the abdomen and in the back, wherefore the latter fell to the ground and had hardly risen and started to walk when he again fell down dead, the crime committed is rightly classified as homicide and the accused is responsible therefore. Even though a blow with the fist or a kick does not cause any external wound it may easily produce inflammation of the spleen and peritonitis and cause death, and even though the victim may have been previously affected by some internal malady, yet if a blow with the fist or foot accelerated death, he who caused such acceleration is responsible for the death as the result of an injury willfully and unlawfully inflicted. (c) When there is an intervening cause US vs. PALALON The defendant was convicted of homicide largely on the testimony of a young physician who stated, in substance, that he examined the body of the deceased on the day after the commission of the crime and found ecchymosis on the body from which he concluded that hard blows had been inflicted on the deceased and that as a result thereof, there was a congestion of the right lung which was the principal cause of the death. No autopsy of the body was made and the physician admitted that his conclusions were partly based upon the statements of the members of the family of the deceased. Held: That the testimony of the physician was not conclusive and that the ecchymosis described by him might have been nothing, but suggillations or "death spots" formed after the death. In case of death under suspicious circumstances, it is the duty of the physician performing the post mortem. examination to exercise the utmost care and not draw unwarranted conclusions from external appearances susceptible of different interpretations. (1) Instances not constituting efficient intervening cause: (i) Weak or diseased physical condition of victim
PEOPLE vs. PALALON 49 PHIL. 177 Facts: Appellant was found guilty of the crime of homicide for the death of a child whom he slapped after answering insolently. The child fell but continued to work. That same afternoon, the child was brought home sick by his father. One-half days later, the child died. The doctor testified it was the blow which was the cause of the death. Issue: W/N the defendant should be held liable for the death of the child. Decision: No. It appears that the examination of the body was incomplete and the conclusion of the doctor have been much more than mere guesses. Furthermore, it was proven that fever was prevalent among the children in the locality thus, there is reasonable doubt as to the true cause of the death. Appellant therefore should be acquitted. (iii) Cause of death not proved US vs. EMBATE Facts: The child has been seriously ill for three weeks. One day, as the child lain on a damp floor, defendant ordered said child to transfer. The child did not obey thus, defendant struck him on the thighs with a slipper. Two days later, the child died. Issue: W/N the defendant should be held liable for the death of the child. Decision: No. Since the cause of the death was unknown, the defendant cannot be held liable for said death. Embate was acquitted. (iv) Death attributable to tetanus URBANO vs. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT (4) Blow accelerated death
PEOPLE vs. ILLUSTRE, SUPRA PEOPLE vs. REYES, SUPRA (ii) Nervousness or temperament of victim PEOPLE vs. ALMONTE When a person dies in consequence of an internal hemorrhage brought on by moving about against the doctor's orders, not because of carelessness or a desire to increase the criminal liability of his assailant, but because of his nervous condition due to the wound inflicted by said assailant, the crime is homicide and not merely slight physical injuries, simply because the doctor was of opinion that the wound might have healed in seven days. The accused is then liable for all acts contrary to law and their natural and logical consequences. PEOPLE vs. QUIANSON
PEOPLE vs. RODRIGUEZ Facts: The defendant was charged with having dealt with Manciano Magno with two blows which knocked the victim down. It was found that Magno provoked the defendant.
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Where it does not appear that the victim, in removing the drainage from his wound, had acted voluntarily and with the knowledge that he was performing an act prejudicial to his health, as this should be attributed to his pathological condition and to his state of nervousness and restlessness on account of the physical pain caused by the peritonitis from which he was suffering, such act of the victim does not have the effect of altering the natural juridical consequences of the punishable act of the accused all the more because, as the defense itself claims, the victim was mentally deranged. (iii) Causes inherent in victim: (1) Addiction to tuba drinking US vs. BAYUTAS The fact that the victim was addicted to the habit of drinking tuba, on account of which it is admitted that his constitution and physical condition retarded the healing of his wounds, according to the opinion of the physician who attended him, beyond the time that it should have taken, cannot lessen the assailant's responsibility, because he is responsible for all the consequences of the personal injury which was produced by the act that he had willfully performed in violation of a prohibitive law, and because his responsibility cannot be lessened on account of the bad state of health and the weakened constitution of the victim. (2) Victim did no know how to swim US vs. VALDEZ, SUPRA (iv) Neglect of victim or third person: (1) Victim refused medical attendance or surgical operation US vs. MARASIGAN Where it appears from the evidence in the case that the appellant inflicted a wound upon the complaining witness which destroyed the use of one of the fingers of the left hand, a motion for a new trial will be denied when based upon the allegation that appellant would be able to prove, if opportunity were given, that the finger, although useless at present, could be restored to substantially its normal condition by a surgical operation. A person injured in an assault is not obliged to submit to a surgical operation to relieve the person who assaulted him from the results of his crime. (d) Even if unintended. (1) Error in personae: mistake in identity of victim PEOPLE vs. OANIS PEOPLE vs. GONA There can be no doubt that the defendant killed Mapudul and that he is guilty of the crime charged, but his attorney argues that in view of the fact that said defendant had no intention to kill the deceased and committed the crime by mistake, he should have been found guilty of homicide through negligence under paragraph 1 of article 568 of the Penal Code and not of the graver crime of intentional homicide.
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This contention is contrary to earlier decisions of this court. In the case of United States vs. Mendieta (34 Phil., 242), the court said: "Even admitting that the defendant intended to injure Hilario Lauigan instead of Pedro Acierto, even that, in view of the mortal wound which he inflicted upon the latter, in no way could be considered as a relief from his criminal act. That he made a mistake in killing one man instead of another, when it is proved that he acted maliciously and willfully, cannot relieve him from criminal responsibility. Neither do we believe that the fact that he "And any such person who shall make a false or fraudulent return shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand pesos or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both." (2) Aberratio ictus: mistake in the blow PEOPLE vs. MABUG-AT (3) Prater intentionem: injurious result is greater than that intended
PEOPLE vs. CAGOCO Keywords: Fell backwards Decision: Under the circumstances of this case the defendant is liable for the killing of the deceased because his death was the direct consequence of defendants felonious act of striking him on the head. If the defendant had not committed the assault in a treacherous manner, he would nevertheless have been guilty of homicide, although he did not intend to kill the deceased, and since the defendant did commit the crime with treachery, he is guilty of murder because of the presence of the qualifying circumstance of treachery. 2. Cause of the cause is the cause of the evil caused
PEOPLE vs. GARDON If a person against whom a criminal assault is directed reasonably believes himself to be in danger of death or great bodily harm and in order to escape jumps into the water, impelled by the instinct of self preservation, the assailant is responsible for homicide in case death results by drowning Appellant should likewise be chargeable with Homicide. The mitigating circumstance of lack of intent to commit so grave a wrong cannot be appreciated in appellant's favor. The determined resolution to do the victim wrong was evident when, even after the victim had disappeared beneath the surface of the sea, he cruelly asked "are you already dead?" Appellant's bid for acquittal in his sixth assignment of error, therefore, deserves no consideration. II. IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES Requisites: 1. act performed is against property 2. That the act was done with evil intent 3. That its accomplishment is inherently impossible or the means employed is either inadequate or ineffectual
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The act performed should not constitute a violation f another provision of the RPC INTOD vs. CA In our jurisdiction, impossible crimes are recognized. The impossibility of accomplishing the criminal intent is not merely a defense, but an act penalized by itself. Furthermore, the phrase "inherent impossibility" that is found in Article 4(2) of the Revised Penal Code makes no distinction between factual or physical impossibility and legal impossibility. Ubi lex non distinguit nee nos distinguiere debemos. The factual situation in the case at bar presents a physical impossibility which rendered the intended crime impossible of accomplishment. And under Article 4, paragraph 2 of the Revised Penal Code, such is sufficient to make the act an impossible crime. 1. To uphold the contention of respondent that the offense was Attempted Murder because the absence of Palangpangan was a supervening cause independent of the actor's will, will render useless the provision in Article 4, which makes a person criminally liable for an act "which would be an offense against persons or property, were it not for the inherent impossibility of its accomplishment x x x." In that case, all circumstances which prevented the consummation of the offense will be treated as an accident independent of the actor's will which is an element of attempted and frustrated felonies. Impossible crime An impossible crime is an act which would be an offense against person or property were it not for the inherent impossibility of its accomplishment or on account of the employment of inadequate or ineffectual means. 4.
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committed. Note, however, that the crime might also fall under the Revised Administrative Code desecrating the dead. 2. A was driving his car around Roxas Boulevard when a person hitched a ride. Because this person was exquisitely dressed, A readily welcomed the fellow inside his car and he continued driving. When he reached a motel, A suddenly swerved his car inside. A started kissing his passenger, but he found out that his passenger was not a woman but a man, and so he pushed him out of the car, and gave him fist blows. Is an impossible crime committed? If not, is there any crime committed at all? It cannot be an impossible crime, because the act would have been a crime against chastity. The crime is physical injuries or acts of lasciviousness, if this was done against the will of the passenger. There are two ways of committing acts of lasciviousness. Under Article 336, where the acts of lasciviousness were committed under circumstances of rape, meaning to say, there is employment of violence or intimidation or the victim is deprived of reason. Even if the victim is a man, the crime of acts of lasciviousness is committed. This is a crime that is not limited to a victim who is a woman. Acts of lasciviousness require a victim to be a woman only when it is committed under circumstances of seduction. If it is committed under the circumstances of rape, the victim may be a man or a woman. The essence of an impossible crime is the inherent impossibility of accomplishing the crime or the inherent impossibility of the means employed to bring about the crime. When we say inherent impossibility, this means that under any and all circumstances, the crime could not have materialized. If the crime could have materialized under a different set of facts, employing the same mean or the same act, it is not an impossible crime; it would be an attempted felony. Under Article 4, paragraph 2, impossible crime is true only when the crime committed would have been against person or against property. It is, therefore, important to know what are the crimes under Title VIII, against persons and those against property under Title X. An impossible crime is true only to any of those crimes. 3. A entered a department store at about midnight, when it was already closed. He went directly to the room where the safe or vault was being kept. He succeeded in opening the safe, but the safe was empty. Is an impossible crime committed? If not, what crime is possibly committed? This is not an impossible crime. That is only true if there is nothing more to steal. But in a department store, where there is plenty to steal, not only the money inside the vault or safe. The fact that the vault had turned out to be empty is not really inherently impossible to commit the crime of robbery. There are other things that he could take. The crime committed therefore is attempted robbery, assuming that he did not lay his hands on any other article. This could not be trespass to dwelling because there are other things that can be stolen.
Question & Answer 1. Accused was a houseboy in a house where only a spinster resides. It is customary for the spinster to sleep nude because her room was warm. It was also the habit of the houseboy that whenever she enters her room, the houseboy would follow and peek into the keyhole. Finally, when the houseboy could no longer resist the urge, he climbed into the ceiling, went inside the room of his master, placed himself on top of her and abused her, not knowing that she was already dead five minutes earlier. Is an impossible crime committed? Yes. Before, the act performed by the offender could not have been a crime against person or property. The act performed would have been constituted a crime against chastity. An impossible crime is true only if the act done by the offender constitutes a crime against person or property. However, with the new rape law amending the Revised Penal Code and classifying rape as a crime against persons, it is now possible that an impossible crime was
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4. A and B were lovers. B was willing to marry A except that A is already married. A thought of killing his wife. He prepared her breakfast every morning, and every morning, he placed a little dose of arsenic poison into the breakfast of the wife. The wife consumed all the food prepared by her husband including the poison but nothing happened to the wife. Because of the volume of the household chores that the wife had to attend to daily, she developed a physical condition that rendered her so strong and resistance to any kind of poisoning, so the amount of poison applied to her breakfast has no effect to her. Is there an impossible crime? No impossible crime is committed because the fact itself stated that what prevented the poison from taking effect is the physical condition of the woman. So it implies that if the woman was not of such physical condition, the poison would have taken effect. Hence, it is not inherently impossible to realize the killing. The crime committed is frustrated parricide. If it were a case of poisoning , an impossible crime would be constituted if a person who was thinking that it was a poison that he was putting into the food of the intended victim but actually it was vetsin or sugar or soda. Under any and all circumstances, the crime could not have been realized. But if due to the quantity of vetsin or sugar or soda, the intended victim developed LBM and was hospitalized, then it would not be a case of impossible crime anymore. It would be a case of physical injuries, if the act done does not amount to some other crime under the Revised Penal Code. Do not confuse an impossible crime with the attempted or frustrated stage. 5. Scott and Charles are roommate in a boarding house. Everyday, Scott leaves for work but before leaving he would lock the food cabinet where he kept his food. Charles resented this. One day, he got an electric cord tied the one end to the door knob and plugged the other end to an electric outlet. The idea was that, when Scott comes home to open the door knob, he would be electrocuted. Unknown to Charles, Scott is working in an electronic shop where he received a daily dosage of electric shock. When Scott opened the doorknob, nothing happened to him. He was just surprised to find out that there was an electric cord plugged to the outlet and the other hand to the door knob. Whether an impossible crime was committed or not? It is not an impossible crime. The means employed is not inherently impossible to bring about the consequence of his felonious act. What prevented the consummation of the crime was because of some cause independent of the will of the perpetrator. 6. A and B are enemies. A, upon seeing B, got the revolver of his father, shot B, but the revolver did not discharge because the bullets were old, none of them discharged. Was an impossible crime committed? No. It was purely accidental that the firearm did not discharge because the bullets were old. If they were new, it would have fired. That is a
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cause other than the spontaneous desistance of the offender, and therefore, an attempted homicide. But if let us say, when he started squeezing the trigger, he did not realize that the firearm was empty. There was no bullet at all. There is an impossible crime, because under any and all circumstances, an unloaded firearm will never fire. Whenever you are confronted with a problem where the facts suggest that an impossible crime was committed, be careful about the question asked. If the question asked is: Is an impossible crime committed?, then you judge that question on the basis of the facts. If really the facts constitute an impossible crime, then you suggest than an impossible crime is committed, then you state the reason for the inherent impossibility. If the question asked is Is he liable for an impossible crime?, this is a catching question. Even though the facts constitute an impossible crime, if the act done by the offender constitutes some other crimes under the Revised Penal Code, he will not be liable for an impossible crime. He will be prosecuted for the crime constituted so far by the act done by him. The reason is an offender is punished for an impossible crime just to teach him a lesson because of his criminal perversity. Although objectively, no crime is committed, but subjectively, he is a criminal. That purpose of the law will also be served if he is prosecuted for some other crime constituted by his acts which are also punishable under the RPC. 7. A and B are neighbors. They are jealous of each others social status. A thought of killing B so A climbed the house of B through the window and stabbed B on the heart, not knowing that B died a few minutes ago of bangungot. Is A liable for an impossible crime? No. A shall be liable for qualified trespass to dwelling. Although the act done by A against B constitutes an impossible crime, it is the principle of criminal law that the offender shall be punished for an impossible crime only when his act cannot be punished under some other provisions in the Revised Penal Code. In other words, this idea of an impossible crime is a one of last resort, just to teach the offender a lesson because of his criminal perversity. If he could be taught of the same lesson by charging him with some other crime constituted by his act, then that will be the proper way. If you want to play safe, you state there that although an impossible crime is constituted, yet it is a principle of criminal law that he will only be penalized for an impossible crime if he cannot be punished under some other provision of the Revised Penal Code. If the question is Is an impossible crime is committed?, the answer is yes, because on the basis of the facts stated, an impossible crime is committed. But to play safe, add another paragraph: However, the offender will not be prosecuted for an impossible crime but for _____ [state the crime]. Because it
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is a principle in criminal law that the offender can only be prosecuted for an impossible crime if his acts do not constitute some other crimes punishable under the Revised Penal Code. An impossible crime is a crime of last resort. Modified concept of impossible crime: In a way, the concept of impossible crime has been modified by the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Intod v. CA, et al., 215 SCRA 52. In this case, four culprits, all armed with firearms and with intent to kill, went to the intended victims house and after having pinpointed the latters bedroom, all four fired at and riddled said room with bullets, thinking that the intended victim was already there as it was about 10:00 in the evening. It so happened that the intended victim did not come home on the evening and so was not in her bedroom at that time. Eventually the culprits were prosecuted and convicted by the trial court for attempted murder. The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment but the Supreme Court modified the same and held the petitioner liable only for the so-called impossible crime. As a result, petitioneraccused was sentenced to imprisonment of only six months of arresto mayor for the felonious act he committed with intent to kill: this despite the destruction done to the intended victims house. Somehow, the decision depreciated the seriousness of the act committed, considering the lawlessness by which the culprits carried out the intended crime, and so some members of the bench and bar spoke out against the soundness of the ruling. Some asked questions: Was it really the impossibility of accomplishing the killing that brought about its non-accomplishment? Was it not purely accidental that the intended victim did not come home that evening and, thus, unknown to the culprits, she was not in her bedroom at the time it was shot and riddled with bullets? Suppose, instead of using firearms, the culprits set fire on the intended victims house, believing she was there when in fact she was not, would the criminal liability be for an impossible crime? Until the Intod case, the prevailing attitude was that the provision of the Revised Penal Code on impossible crime would only apply when the wrongful act, which would have constituted a crime against persons or property, could not and did not constitute another felony. Otherwise, if such act constituted any other felony although different from what the offender intended, the criminal liability should be for such other felony and not for an impossible crime. The attitude was so because Article 4 of the Code provides two situations where criminal liability shall be incurred, to wit: Art 4. incurred: 1. Criminal liability Criminal liability shall be 2.
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By any person performing an act which would be an offense against persons or property, were it not for the inherent impossibility of its accomplishment or on account of the employment of inadequate or ineffectual means.
Paragraph 1 refers to a situation where the wrongful act done constituted a felony although it may be different from what he intended. Paragraph 2 refers to a situation where the wrongful act done did not constitute any felony, but because the act would have given rise to a crime against persons or against property, the same is penalized to repress criminal tendencies to curtail their frequency. Because criminal liability for impossible crime presupposes that no felony resulted from the wrongful act done, the penalty is fixed at arresto mayor or a fine from P200.00 to P500.00, depending on the social danger and degree of criminality shown by the offender (Article 59), regardless of whether the wrongful act was an impossible crime against persons or against property. There is no logic in applying paragraph 2 of Article 4 to a situation governed by paragraph 1 of the same Article, that is, where a felony resulted. Otherwise, a redundancy and duplicity would be perpetrated. In the Intod case, the wrongful acts of the culprits caused destruction to the house of the intended victim; this felonious act negates the idea of an impossible crime. But whether we agree or not, the Supreme Court has spoken, we have to respect its ruling. NO CRIME UNLESS THERE IS A LAW PUNISHING IT When a person is charged in court, and the court finds that there is no law applicable, the court will acquit the accused and the judge will give his opinion that the said act should be punished. Article 5 covers two situations: (1) The court cannot convict the accused because the acts do not constitute a crime. The proper judgment is acquittal, but the court is mandated to report to the Chief Executive that said act be made subject of penal legislation and why. Where the court finds the penalty prescribed for the crime too harsh considering the conditions surrounding the commission of he crime, the judge should impose the law. The most that he could do is to recommend to the Chief Executive to grant executive clemency.
(2)
By any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful act be different from that which he intended.
STAGES IN THE COMMISSION OF FELONY
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The classification of stages of a felony in Article 6 are true only to crimes under the Revised Penal Code. This does not apply to crimes punished under special laws. But even certain crimes which are punished under the Revised Penal Code do not admit of these stages. The purpose of classifying penalties is to bring about a proportionate penalty and equitable punishment. The penalties are graduated according to their degree of severity. The stages may not apply to all kinds of felonies. There are felonies which do not admit of division. Formal crimes Formal crimes are crimes which are consummated in one instance. For example, in oral defamation, there is no attempted oral defamation or frustrated oral defamation; it is always in the consummated stage. So also, in illegal exaction under Article 213 is a crime committed when a public officer who is authorized to collect taxes, licenses or impose for the government, shall demand an amount bigger than or different from what the law authorizes him to collect. Under sub-paragraph a of Article 213 on Illegal exaction, the law uses the word demanding. Mere demanding of an amount different from what the law authorizes him to collect will already consummate a crime, whether the taxpayer pays the amount being demanded or not. Payment of the amount being demanded is not essential to the consummation of the crime. The difference between the attempted stage and the frustrated stage lies on whether the offender has performed all the acts of execution for the accomplishment of a felony. Literally, under the article, if the offender has performed all the acts of execution which should produce the felony as a consequence but the felony was not realized, then the crime is already in the frustrated stage. If the offender has not yet performed all the acts of execution there is yet something to be performed but he was not able to perform all the acts of execution due to some cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance, then you have an attempted felony. You will notice that the felony begins when the offender performs an overt act. Not any act will mark the beginning of a felony, and therefore, if the act so far being done does not begin a felony, criminal liability correspondingly does not begin. In criminal law, there is such a thing as preparatory act. These acts do not give rise to criminal liability.
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went to the drugstore and bought arsenic poison. On the way out, he met D. D asked him who was sick in the family, A confided to D that he bought the poison to poison his wife in order to marry C. After that, they parted ways. D went directly to the police and reported that A is going to kill his wife. So the policemen went to As house and found A still unwrapping the arsenic poison. The policemen asked A if he was planning to poison B and A said yes. Police arrested him and charged him with attempted parricide. Is the charge correct? No. Overt act begins when the husband mixed the poison with the food his wife is going to take. Before this, there is no attempted stage yet. An overt act is that act which if allowed to continue in its natural course would definitely result into a felony. In the attempted stage, the definition uses the word directly. This is significant. In the attempted stage, the acts so far performed may already be a crime or it may be just an ingredient of another crime. The word "directly" emphasizes the requirement that the attempted felony is that which is directly linked to the overt act performed by the offender, not the felony he has in his mind. In criminal law, you are not allowed to speculate, not to imagine what crime is intended, but apply the provisions of the law of the facts given. When a person starts entering the dwelling of another, that act is already trespassing. But the act of entering is an ingredient of robbery with force upon things. You could only hold him liable for attempted robbery when he has already completed all acts performed by him directly leading to robbery. The act of entering alone is not yet indicative of robbery although that may be what he may have planned to commit. In law, the attempted stage is only that overt act which is directly linked to the felony intended to be committed. In US v. Namaja, the accused was arrested while he was detaching some of the wood panels of a store. He was already able to detach two wood panels. To a layman, the only conclusion that will come to your mind is that this fellow started to enter the store to steal something. He would not be there just to sleep there. But in criminal law, since the act of removing the panel indicates only at most the intention to enter. He can only be prosecuted for trespass. The removal of the panelling is just an attempt to trespass, not an attempt to rob. Although, Namaja was prosecuted for attempted robbery, the Supreme Court held it is only attempted trespass because that is the crime that can be directly linked to his act of removing the wood panel. There are some acts which are ingredients of a certain crime, but which are, by themselves, already criminal offenses. In abduction, your desire may lead to acts of lasciviousness. In so far the woman being carried is concerned, she may already be the victim of lascivious acts. The crime is not attempted abduction but acts of lasciviousness. You only
Question & Answer A and B are husband and wife. A met C who was willing to marry him, but he is already married. A thought of eliminating B and to poison her. So, he
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hold him liable for an attempt, so far as could be reasonably linked to the overt act done by him. Do not go far and imagine what you should do.
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Question & Answer A awakened one morning with a man sleeping in his sofa. Beside the man was a bag containing picklocks and similar tools. He found out that the man entered his sala by cutting the screen on his window. If you were to prosecute this fellow, for what crime are you going to prosecute him? The act done by him of entering through an opening not intended for the purpose is only qualified trespass. Qualified trespass because he did so by cutting through the screen. There was force applied in order to enter. Other than that, under Article 304 of the Revised Penal Code, illegal possession of picklocks and similar tools is a crime. Thus, he can be prosecuted for two crimes: (1) qualified trespass to dwelling, and (2) illegal possession of picklocks and similar tools; not complex because one is not necessary means to commit the other. Desistance Desistance on the part of the offender negates criminal liability in the attempted stage. Desistance is true only in the attempted stage of the felony. If under the definition of the felony, the act done is already in the frustrated stage, no amount of desistance will negate criminal liability. The spontaneous desistance of the offender negates only the attempted stage but not necessarily all criminal liability. Even though there was desistance on the part of the offender, if the desistance was made when acts done by him already resulted to a felony, that offender will still be criminally liable for the felony brought about his act. What is negated is only the attempted stage, but there may be other felony constituting his act. Illustrations: A fired at B and B was hit on the shoulder. But B's wound was not mortal. What A then did was to approach B, and told B, Now you are dead, I will kill you. But A took pity and kept the revolver and left. The crime committed is attempted homicide and not physical injuries, because there was an intention to kill. The desistance was with the second shot and would not affect the first shot because the first shot had already hit B. The second attempt has nothing to do with the first. In another instance, A has a very seductive neighbor in the person of B. A had always been looking at B and had wanted to possess her but their status were
not the same. One evening, after A saw B at her house and thought that B was already asleep, he entered the house of B through the window to abuse her. He, however, found out that B was nude, so he lost interest and left. Can a be accused of attempted rape? No, because there was desistance, which prevented the crime from being consummated. The attempted stage was erased because the offender desisted after having commenced the commission of the felony. The attempted felony is erased by desistance because the offender spontaneously desisted from pursuing the acts of execution. It does not mean, however, that there is no more felony committed. He may be liable for a consummated felony constituted by his act of trespassing. When A entered the house through the window, which is not intended for entrance, it is always presumed to be against the will of the owner. If the offender proceeded to abuse the woman, but the latter screamed, and A went out of the window again, he could not be prosecuted for qualified trespass. Dwelling is taken as an aggravating circumstance so he will be prosecuted for attempted rape aggravated by dwelling. In deciding whether a felony is attempted or frustrated or consummated, there are three criteria involved: (1) (2) (3) The manner of committing the crime; The elements of the crime; and The nature of the crime itself.
Manner of committing a crime For example, let us take the crime of bribery. Can the crime of frustrated bribery be committed? No. (Incidentally, the common concept of bribery is that it is the act of one who corrupts a public officer. Actually, bribery is the crime of the receiver not the giver. The crime of the giver is corruption of public official. Bribery is the crime of the public officer who in consideration of an act having to do with his official duties would receive something, or accept any promise or present in consideration thereof.) The confusion arises from the fact that this crime requires two to commit -- the giver and the receiver. The law called the crime of the giver as corruption of public official and the receiver as bribery. Giving the idea that these are independent crimes, but actually, they cannot arise without the other. Hence, if only one side of the crime is present, only corruption, you cannot have a consummated corruption without the corresponding consummated bribery. There cannot be a consummated bribery without the corresponding consummated corruption. If you have bribery only, it is only possible in the attempted stage. If you have a corruption only, it is possible only in the attempted stage. A corruptor gives money to a public officer for the latter not
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to prosecute him. The public officer received the money but just the same, arrested him. He received the money to have evidence of corruption. Do not think that because the corruptor has already delivered the money, he has already performed all the acts of execution, and, therefore, the corruption is already beyond the attempted stage. That thinking does away with the concept of the crime that it requires two to commit. The manner of committing the crime requires the meeting of the minds between the giver and the receiver. When the giver delivers the money to the supposed receiver, but there is no meeting of the minds, the only act done by the giver is an attempt. It is not possible for him to perform all the acts of execution because in the first place, the receiver has no intention of being corrupted. Similarly, when a public officer demands a consideration by official duty, the corruptor turns down the demand, there is no bribery. If the one to whom the demand was made pretended to give, but he had reported the matter to higher authorities, the money was marked and this was delivered to the public officer. If the public officer was arrested, do not think that because the public officer already had the money in his possession, the crime is already frustrated bribery, it is only attempted bribery. This is because the supposed corruptor has no intention to corrupt. In short, there is no meeting of the minds. On the other hand, if there is a meeting of the minds, there is consummated bribery or consummated corruption. This leaves out the frustrated stage because of the manner of committing the crime. But indirect bribery is always consummated. This is because the manner of consummating the crime does not admit of attempt or frustration. You will notice that under the Revised Penal Code, when it takes two to commit the crime, there could hardly be a frustrated stage. For instance, the crime of adultery. There is no frustrated adultery. Only attempted or consummated. This is because it requires the link of two participants. If that link is there, the crime is consummated; if such link is absent, there is only an attempted adultery. There is no middle ground when the link is there and when the link is absent. There are instances where an intended felony could already result from the acts of execution already done. Because of this, there are felonies where the offender can only be determined to have performed all the acts of execution when the resulting felony is already accomplished. Without the resulting felony, there is no way of determining whether the offender has already performed all the acts or not. It is in such felonies that the frustrated stage does not exist because without the felony being accomplished, there is no way of stating that the offender has already performed all the acts of execution. An example of this is the crime of rape. The essence of the crime is carnal knowledge. No matter what the offender may do to accomplish a penetration, if there was no penetration yet, it cannot be said that the offender has performed all the acts of execution. We can only say that the offender in rape has performed all the acts of execution when he has effected a penetration. Once there is penetration already, no matter how slight, the offense is
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consummated. For this reason, rape admits only of the attempted and consummated stages, no frustrated stage. This was the ruling in the case of People v. Orita. In rape, it requires the connection of the offender and the offended party. No penetration at all, there is only an attempted stage. Slightest penetration or slightest connection, consummated. You will notice this from the nature of the crime requiring two participants. This is also true in the crime of arson. It does not admit of the frustrated stage. In arson, the moment any particle of the premises intended to be burned is blackened, that is already an indication that the premises have begun to burn. It does not require that the entire premises be burned to consummate arson. Because of that, the frustrated stage of arson has been eased out. The reasoning is that one cannot say that the offender, in the crime of arson, has already performed all the acts of execution which could produce the destruction of the premises through the use of fire, unless a part of the premises has begun to burn. If it has not begun to burn, that means that the offender has not yet performed all the acts of execution. On the other hand, the moment it begins to burn, the crime is consummated. Actually, the frustrated stage is already standing on the consummated stage except that the outcome did not result. As far as the stage is concerned, the frustrated stage overlaps the consummated stage. Because of this reasoning by the Court of Appeals in People v. Garcia, the Supreme Court followed the analysis that one cannot say that the offender in the crime of arson has already performed all the acts of execution which would produce the arson as a consequence, unless and until a part of the premises had begun to burn. In US v. Valdez, the offender had tried to burn the premises by gathering jute sacks laying these inside the room. He lighted these, and as soon as the jute sacks began to burn, he ran away. The occupants of the room put out the fire. The court held that what was committed was frustrated arson. This case was much the way before the decision in the case of People v. Garcia was handed down and the Court of Appeals ruled that there is no frustrated arson. But even then, the analysis in the case of US v. Valdez is correct. This is because, in determining whether the felony is attempted, frustrated or consummated, the court does not only consider the definition under Article 6 of the Revised Penal Code, or the stages of execution of the felony. When the offender has already passed the subjective stage of the felony, it is beyond the attempted stage. It is already on the consummated or frustrated stage depending on whether a felony resulted. If the felony did not result, frustrated. The attempted stage is said to be within the subjective phase of execution of a felony. On the subjective phase, it is that point in time when the offender begins the commission of an overt act until that point where he loses control of
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the commission of the crime already. If he has reached that point where he can no longer control the ensuing consequence, the crime has already passed the subjective phase and, therefore, it is no longer attempted. The moment the execution of the crime has already gone to that point where the felony should follow as a consequence, it is either already frustrated or consummated. If the felony does not follow as a consequence, it is already frustrated. If the felony follows as a consequence, it is consummated. The trouble is that, in the jurisprudence recognizing the objective phase and the subjective phase, the Supreme Court considered not only the acts of the offender, but also his belief. That although the offender may not have done the act to bring about the felony as a consequence, if he could have continued committing those acts but he himself did not proceed because he believed that he had done enough to consummate the crime, Supreme Court said the subjective phase has passed. This was applied in the case of US v. Valdez, where the offender, having already put kerosene on the jute sacks, lighted the same, he had no reason not to believe that the fire would spread, so he ran away. That act demonstrated that in his mind, he believed that he has performed all the acts of execution and that it is only a matter of time that the premises will burn. The fact that the occupant of the other room came out and put out the fire is a cause independent of the will of the perpetrator. The ruling in the case of US v. Valdez is still correct. But in the case of People v. Garcia, the situation is different. Here, the offender who put the torch over the house of the offended party, the house being a nipa hut, the torch which was lighted could easily burn the roof of the nipa hut. But the torch burned out. In that case, you cannot say that the offender believed that he had performed all the acts of execution. There was not even a single burn of any instrument or agency of the crime. The analysis made by the Court of Appeals is still correct: that they could not demonstrate a situation where the offender has performed all the acts of execution to bring about the crime of arson and the situation where he has not yet performed all the acts of execution. The weight of the authority is that the crime of arson cannot be committed in the frustrated stage. The reason is because we can hardly determine whether the offender has performed all the acts of execution that would result in arson, as a consequence, unless a part of the premises has started to burn. On the other hand, the moment a particle or a molecule of the premises has blackened, in law, arson is consummated. This is because consummated arson does not require that the whole of the premises be burned. It is enough that any part of the premises, no matter how small, has begun to burn. There are also certain crimes that do not admit of the attempted or frustrated stage, like physical injuries. One of the known commentators in criminal law
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has advanced the view that the crime of physical injuries can be committed in the attempted as well as the frustrated stage. He explained that by going through the definition of an attempted and a frustrated felony under Article 6, if a person who was about to give a fist blow to another raises his arms, but before he could throw the blow, somebody holds that arm, there would be attempted physical injuries. The reason for this is because the offender was not able to perform all the acts of execution to bring about physical injuries. On the other hand, he also stated that the crime of physical injuries may be committed in the frustrated stage when the offender was able to throw the blow but somehow, the offended party was able to sidestep away from the blow. He reasoned out that the crime would be frustrated because the offender was able to perform all the acts of execution which would bring about the felony were it not for a cause independent of the will of the perpetrator. The explanation is academic. You will notice that under the Revised Penal Code, the crime of physical injuries is penalized on the basis of the gravity of the injuries. Actually, there is no simple crime of physical injuries. You have to categorize because there are specific articles that apply whether the physical injuries are serious, less serious or slight. If you say physical injuries, you do not know which article to apply. This being so, you could not punish the attempted or frustrated stage because you do not know what crime of physical injuries was committed.
Questions & Answers 1. Is there an attempted slight physical injuries?
If there is no result, you do not know. Criminal law cannot stand on any speculation or ambiguity; otherwise, the presumption of innocence would be sacrificed. Therefore, the commentators opinion cannot stand because you cannot tell what particular physical injuries was attempted or frustrated unless the consequence is there. You cannot classify the physical injuries. 2. A threw muriatic acid on the face of B. The injuries would have resulted in deformity were it not for timely plastic surgery. After the surgery, B became more handsome. What crime is committed? Is it attempted, frustrated or consummated? The crime committed here is serious physical injuries because of the deformity. When there is deformity, you disregard the healing duration of the wound or the medical treatment required by the wound. In order that in law, a deformity can be said to exist, three factors must concur: (1) (2) The injury should bring about the ugliness; The ugliness must be visible;
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(3)
The ugliness would not disappear through natural healing process.
the crime of larceny which is equivalent to our crime of theft here requires that the offender must be able to carry away or transport the thing being stolen. Without that carrying away, the larceny cannot be consummated. In our concept of theft, the offender need not move an inch from where he was. It is not a matter of carrying away. It is a matter of whether he has already acquired complete control of the personal property involved. That complete control simply means that the offender has already supplanted his will from the will of the possessor or owner of the personal property involved, such that he could exercise his own control on the thing. Illustration: I placed a wallet on a table inside a room. A stranger comes inside the room, gets the wallet and puts it in his pocket. I suddenly started searching him and I found the wallet inside his pocket. The crime of theft is already consummated because he already acquired complete control of my wallet. This is so true when he removed the wallet from the confines of the table. He can exercise his will over the wallet already, he can drop this on the floor, etc. But as long as the wallet remains on the table, the theft is not yet consummated; there can only be attempted or frustrated theft. If he has started lifting the wallet, it is frustrated. If he is in the act of trying to take the wallet or place it under, attempted. Taking in the concept of theft, simply means exercising control over the thing. If instead of the wallet, the man who entered the room pretended to carry the table out of the room, and the wallet is there. While taking the table out of the room, I apprehended him. It turned out that he is not authorized at all and is interested only in the wallet, not the table. The crime is not yet consummated. It is only frustrated because as far as the table is concern, it is the confines of this room that is the container. As long as he has not taken this table out of the four walls of this room, the taking is not complete. A man entered a room and found a chest on the table. He opened it found some valuables inside. He took the valuables, put them in his pocket and was arrested. In this case, theft is consummated. But if he does not take the valuables but lifts the entire chest, and before he could leave the room, he was apprehended, there is frustrated theft. If the thing is stolen from a compound or from a room, as long as the object has not been brought out of that room, or from the perimeter of the compound, the crime is only frustrated. This is the confusion raised in the case of US v. Dio compared with People v. Adio and People v. Espiritu. In US v. Dio, the accused loaded boxes of rifle on their truck. When they were on their way out of the South Harbor, they were checked at the
Along this concept of deformity in law, the plastic surgery applied to B is beside the point. In law, what is considered is not the artificial or the scientific treatment but the natural healing of the injury. So the fact that there was plastic surgery applied to B does not relieve the offender from the liability for the physical injuries inflicted. The crime committed is serious physical injuries. It is consummated. In determining whether a felony is attempted, frustrated or consummated, you have to consider the manner of committing the felony, the element of the felony and the nature of the felony itself. There is no real hard and fast rule. Elements of the crime In the crime of estafa, the element of damage is essential before the crime could be consummated. If there is no damage, even if the offender succeeded in carting away the personal property involved, estafa cannot be considered as consummated. For the crime of estafa to be consummated, there must be misappropriation already done, so that there is damage already suffered by the offended party. If there is no damage yet, the estafa can only be frustrated or attempted. On the other hand, if it were a crime of theft, damage or intent to cause damage is not an element of theft. What is necessary only is intent to gain, not even gain is important. The mere intent to derive some profit is enough but the thinking must be complete before a crime of theft shall be consummated. That is why we made that distinction between theft and estafa. If the personal property was received by the offender, this is where you have to decide whether what was transferred to the offender is juridical possession or physical possession only. If the offender did not receive the personal property, but took the same from the possession of the owner without the latters consent, then there is no problem. That cannot be estafa; this is only theft or none at all. In estafa, the offender receives the property; he does not take it. But in receiving the property, the recipient may be committing theft, not estafa, if what was transferred to him was only the physical or material possession of the object. It can only be estafa if what was transferred to him is not only material or physical possession but juridical possession as well. When you are discussing estafa, do not talk about intent to gain. In the same manner that when you are discussing the crime of theft, do not talk of damage. The crime of theft is the one commonly given under Article 6. This is so because the concept of theft under the Revised Penal Code differs from the concept of larceny under American common law. Under American common law,
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checkpoint, so they were not able to leave the compound. what was committed was frustrated Theft. It was held that
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In People v. Espiritu, the accused were on their way out of the supply house when they were apprehended by military police who found them secreting some hospital linen. It was held that what was committed was consummated theft. The emphasis, which was erroneously laid in some commentaries, is that, in both cases, the offenders were not able to pass the checkpoint. But why is it that in one, it is frustrated and in the other, it is consummated? In the case of US v. Dio, the boxes of rifle were stocked file inside the compound of the South Harbor. As far as the boxes of rifle are concerned, it is the perimeter of the compound that is the container. As long as they were not able to bring these boxes of rifle out of the compound, the taking is not complete. On the other hand, in the case of People v. Espiritu, what were taken were hospital linens. These were taken from a warehouse. Hospital linens were taken from boxes that were diffused or destroyed and brought out of the hospital. From the moment they took it out of the boxes where the owner or the possessor had placed it, the control is complete. You do not have to go out of the compound to complete the taking or the control. This is very decisive in the problem because in most problems given in the bar, the offender, after having taken the object out of the container changed his mind and returned it. Is he criminally liable? Do not make a mistake by saying that there is a desistance. If the crime is one of theft, the moment he brought it out, it was consummated. The return of the thing cannot be desistance because in criminal law, desistance is true only in the attempted stage. You cannot talk of desistance anymore when it is already in the consummated stage. If the offender has already acquired complete control of what he intended to take, the fact that he changed his mind and returned the same will no longer affect his criminal liability. It will only affect the civil liability of the crime because he will no longer be required to pay the object. As far as the crime committed is concerned, the offender is criminally liable and the crime is consummated theft. Illustration: A and B are neighbors. One evening, A entered the yard of B and opened the chicken coop where B keeps his fighting cocks. He discovered that the fighting cocks were not physically fit for cockfighting so he returned it. The crime is consummated theft. The will of the owner is to keep the fighting cock inside the chicken coop. When the offender succeeded in bringing the cock out of the coop, it is clear that his will completely governed or superseded the will of the owner to keep such cock inside the chicken coop. Hence, the crime was already consummated, and being consummated, the return of the owners property is not desistance anymore. The offender is criminally liable but he will not be civilly liable because the object was returned.
When the receptacle is locked or sealed, and the offender broke the same, in lieu of theft, the crime is robbery with force upon things. However, that the receptacle is locked or sealed has nothing to do with the stage of the commission of the crime. It refers only to whether it is theft or robbery with force upon things. Nature of the crime itself In crimes involving the taking of human life parricide, homicide, and murder in the definition of the frustrated stage, it is indispensable that the victim be mortally wounded. Under the definition of the frustrated stage, to consider the offender as having performed all the acts of execution, the acts already done by him must produce or be capable of producing a felony as a consequence. The general rule is that there must be a fatal injury inflicted, because it is only then that death will follow. If the wound is not mortal, the crime is only attempted. The reason is that the wound inflicted is not capable of bringing about the desired felony of parricide, murder or homicide as a consequence; it cannot be said that the offender has performed all the acts of execution which would produce parricide, homicide or murder as a result. An exception to the general rule is the so-called subjective phase. The Supreme Court has decided cases which applied the subjective standard that when the offender himself believed that he had performed all the acts of execution, even though no mortal wound was inflicted, the act is already in the frustrated stage. CONSPIRACY AND PROPOSAL TO COMMITE A FELONY Two ways for conspiracy to exist: (1) (2) There is an agreement. The participants acted in concert or simultaneously which is indicative of a meeting of the minds towards a common criminal goal or criminal objective. When several offenders act in a synchronized, coordinated manner, the fact that their acts complimented each other is indicative of the meeting of the minds. There is an implied agreement.
Two kinds of conspiracy: (1) (2) Conspiracy as a crime; and Conspiracy as a manner of incurring criminal liability
When conspiracy itself is a crime, no overt act is necessary to bring about the criminal liability. The mere conspiracy is the crime itself. This is only true
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when the law expressly punishes the mere conspiracy; otherwise, the conspiracy does not bring about the commission of the crime because conspiracy is not an overt act but a mere preparatory act. Treason, rebellion, sedition, and coup detat are the only crimes where the conspiracy and proposal to commit to them are punishable.
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A.
1.
General Rule: conspiracies and proposals to commit a felony are not punishable Not indictable in the Philippines
US vs. LIM BUANCO Facts: Defendants are being accused of estafa for defrauding El Banco EspanolFilipino. Lim Buanco had an account with the said bank and drew large sums of money therefrom by means of checks that were signed by him and endorsed by Reyes. However, conspiracy existed between the defendants for the withdrawal of funds from the bank regardless of whether Lim Baunco had funds in the bank to his credit or not. Reyes manipulated the books as to make them show an apparent credit when in fact Lim Buanco was owing the bank a large sum of money. Issue: W/N the defendants should be charged with conspiracy or estafa. Decision: Under the common law, a combination of two or more persons to do an unlawful act by lawful means, or a lawful act by unlawful means, to the prejudice of an individual or public is a distinct offense. The Penal code defines certain acts as conspiracies and makes them punishable. Article 4 of the Penal code says that there is a conspiracy when two or more persons act together for the commission of a crime, and decide to commit it. The crime of conspiracy as known to the common law does not exist under the system embodied in the Spanish Penal Code, which defines certain specific acts as conspiracies, and provides that a conspiracy to commit a crime is punishable only in the cases in which the law specifically makes them so. The information in this case charges the defendants with the crime of estafa, and does not attempt to charge them with the crime of conspiracy (a) But of pivotal importance perpetuators of crime in determining liability of
Decision: A conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it. Generally, conspiracy is not a crime except when the law specifically provides for a penalty therefore as in treason, rebellion and sedition. The crime of conspiracy known to the common law is not an indictable offense in the Philippines. An agreement to commit a crime is a reprehensible act from the viewpoint of morality, but as long as the conspirators do not perform overt acts in furtherance of their malevolent design, the sovereignty of the State is not outraged and the tranquility of the public remains undisturbed. However, when in resolute execution of a common scheme, a felony is committed by two or more malefactors, the existence of conspiracy assumes pivotal importance in the determination of liability of the perpetrators. Exception: As provided by Law 2. conspiracies punished by RPC (a) conspiracy to commit treason (Art 115) (b) conspiracy to commit rebellion (Art 136) (c) conspiracy to commit sedition (Art 141) 3. Proposals punished in the code (a) proposal to commit treason (Art 115) (b) Proposal to commit rebellion (Art 136) 4. conspiracies punished by special laws (a) commonwealth act no 616 sec. 5 (b) RA 1700 II. MERE CONSPIRACY AS CONSTITUTING COMMISSION OF CRIME Combinations in restrain of Trade (Art 186) Brigandage (Art 306) Certain violations of the dangerous drugs act MERE PROPOSAL AS OVERT ACT PUNISHED BY LAW: BRIBR NOT ACCEPTED (Art. 212, RPC)
A. B. C.
III.
US vs. GLORIA Facts: Gloria was an unsuccessful candidate for election as president of his town. Upon filing a protest, he approached the treasurer of said treasurer of said province, a member of said board, and offered and promised to give him the sum of 200 pesos if he would "lend his aid and support to the said protest. Defendant was charged with attempt" to commit the crime of bribery Issue: W/N the act is punishable by the RPC. Decision: It is urged that the said offer was a mere proposal to commit a crime, and that under the provisions of article 4 such proposals can only be
PEOPLE vs. PERALTA Facts: The accused were OXO members and were charged for multiple murder for killing three members/sympathizers of the Sigue-Sigue gang during a prison riot. The prison riot was an offshoot of the long standing clashes between the warring groups. Sigue-sigues members are predominantly Tagalogs while OXOs members came from Visayas and Mindanao: Issue: W/N there is conspiracy in this case
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punished in cases where specific authority therefor is to be found in the Penal Code, and that there is nothing in said code which penalizes a proposal to commit the crime of bribery. In the case in question the proposal was in fact an "attempt" as defined in article 3 of said code, wherein it is said that "there is an attempt when the guilty person makes a beginning in the commission of a crime by direct, overt acts and does not perform all of the acts of execution which constitute the crime, by reason of some cause or action other than his own voluntary desistance;" the accused, having made an offer of money for the purpose of bribery, can not be said to have made a mere proposition, as the offer of money is an overt act in a crime of this nature, and its refusal on the part of the official whom it was proposed to bribe alone prevented the consummation of the crime. IV. ELEMENTS OF CONSPIRACY V. ELEMENTS OF PROPOSAL A person has decided to commit a crime He proposes its commission to another 1. if proposal is accepted, there is a conspiracy
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A. B.
VI.
CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT A CRIME IS DISTINGUISHED CONSPIRACY AS A MEANS TO COMMIT TO CRIME
FROM
Note: When conspiracy relates to crime actually committed, not a felony but only a means of incurring criminal liability. VII. LIABILITY OF CONSPIRATOR determination to commit felony taking part in every detail is not essential
A. B.
PEOPLE vs. CABILING Facts: The victim was a driver of a truck that was to deliver a truckload of rice to Manila. Their truck broke down while in the highway causing them to stop. Suddenly, three men, who previously had a confrontation with one the truck passengers, came and attacked the persons inside the truck killing the victim. Guido died from traumatic injuries in the head. Cabiling contends that he could not have killed Guido since he was not the one with the lead pipe. Issue: W/N Cabiling is as guilty as his other companions for the murder of Guido. Decision: Yes. It is not essential that each conspirator shall take part in every act, or that one should know the exact part to be performed by the other conspirator in the execution of the conspiracy. Conspiracy implies concert of design and not participation in every detail of execution. If it is proved that two or more persons aimed, by their acts, at the accomplishment of some unlawful object, each doing a part so that their acts, through apparently, were in fact connected and cooperative, indicating a closeness of personal association and a concurrence of sentiments, conspiracy may be inferred although no actual meeting between them to conspire is proved, for the prosecution need not establish that all the parties thereto agreed to every detail in the execution of the crime or that they were actually together at all stages of the conspiracy. It is enough that from the individual acts of each accused, it may be reasonably deduced that they had a common plan to commit the felony. Every one of the conspirators who took active part in its execution is therefore responsible for all he acts of the others done in the furtherance of the common design.
PEOPLE vs. OGAPAY Facts: The defendants was said to have conspired to kill Ogapay, the godson of one of the defendants. A conflict arose between the victim and one of the defendants when the former accused the latter of land-grabbing lands owned by the formers grandfather. Moreover, the victim did not support the defendant during the elections. Thus the defendant, with several others had the victim killed. Issue: W/N there is conspiracy in the case at bar. Decision: There is no conspiracy in this case. According to People v. Malilay and People v. Pudpud : "A conspiracy 'exists when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it. 'The objective then on the part of the conspirators is to perform an act or omission punishable by law. What is required is assent to the perpetration of such a misdeed. That must be their intent. There is need in the language of Justice Mapa in the early leading case of United States v. Magcomot, a 1909 decision, for 'concurrence of wills' or unity of action and purpose.' The usual phraseology employed in many of the later cases is 'common and joint purpose and design. 'Thus a conspiracy need not be proved be direct evidence; it may be deduced from the mode and manner in which the offense was perpetrated. The conditions attending its commission and the acts executed may be indicative of a common design to accomplish a criminal purpose and objective. If such be the case then, the act of one is the act of all the others involved and each is to be held to the same degree of liability as the others.
A. B. C.
Two or more persons come to an agreement (US vs. Villarino) Agreement concerns commission of felony (US vs. Figueras) They decide to commit it.
C. D. E.
Conspirators need not all join in the agreement at the same time Collective criminal responsibility: Act of one, act of all (People vs. Alonzo) Solidary indemnity for victims indemnity
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Issue: W/N Quinto should be acquitted VIII.
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A. B. C.
IX.
DEGREE OF PROOF REQUIRED TO ESTABLISH CONSPIRACY Same Degree of proof required to establish crime 1. Mere companionship does not establish conspiracy 2. Mere presence at crime scene does not establish conspiracy Positive and convincing Founded on facts and not mere conjectures, inferences presumptions LIABILITY IN ABSENCE OF CONSPIRACY Individual liability
or
A.
Decision: It is significant that in the instant case, there is no evidence tending to show conspiracy. In the absence of conspiracy, it is necessary to prove who shot and killed the victim, as mere Presence of the accused at the scene of the crime, in the company of others, among whom could have been the culprits, does not establish criminal liability. It is settled that where conspiracy is absent, each of the accused is responsible only for the consequences of his own act. In the instant case, the nature and extent of appellant's participation, if any, in the acts leading to the commission of the felony has not been established by the evidence for the prosecution. Quintos guilt was not proved beyond reasonable doubt thus he was acquitted.
PEOPLE vs. TOLING Facts: The defendants were all found guilty for the crime of Robbery in Band with Homicide. Toling an Bolando robbed a certain Francisco Lumpayao. Upon seeing this, Francisco shouted for help. The victim went to Franciscos house. Upon seeing Isabelo, Toling shot Isabelo thereby killing him. Bolando contends that he did not know of Tolings plan till they were in the barrio. He only joined them because of the Php .50 share in the loot that was promised to him. Issue: W/N Bolando is as guilty as the other defendants Decision: Conspiracy not having been established, the criminal responsibility of several accused is individual. Conspiracy is not proven in this case because it does not appear that the appellants had a common design. According to Bolando, he went along with Toling because he was afraid to displease the latter and he only learned of their purpose on their way. Considering that Bolando after knowing that thy were to rob someone still went with them to the Barrio, and although he did not directly participate in the robbery he gave moral encouragement to them with his presence and shared in the loot in the amount of Php .50, he should be criminally responsible as an accomplice for the crime of robbery. An accomplice is one who cooperates in the execution of the crime by previous or simultaneous acts, provided that he has not taken direct part in the execution of the crime or forced or induced others to execute it, or cooperated in its perpetuation by an indispensable act. PEOPLE vs. QUINTO Facts: The defendants were charged of murder for hitting and inflicting upon the vital parts of Patrolman Butawas body mortal gunshot wounds, which caused his untimely death. It was said that Quinto and his companions, who were at that time already drunk, had a heated encounter with the victims in topside caf. However, the prosecution was not able to establish whether it was really the defendant who killed the victim. Question & Answer Union A proposed acts of sedition to Union B. Is there a crime committed? Assuming Union B accepts the proposal, will your answer be different? There is no crime committed. Proposal to commit sedition is not a crime. But if Union B accepts the proposal, there will be conspiracy to commit sedition which is a crime under the Revised Penal Code. When the conspiracy is only a basis of incurring criminal liability, there must be an overt act done before the co-conspirators become criminally liable. When the conspiracy itself is a crime, this cannot be inferred or deduced because there is no overt act. All that there is the agreement. On the other hand, if the co-conspirator or any of them would execute an overt act, the crime would no longer be the conspiracy but the overt act itself. Illustration: A, B, C and D came to an agreement to commit rebellion. Their agreement was to bring about the rebellion on a certain date. Even if none of them has performed the act of rebellion, there is already criminal liability arising from the conspiracy to commit the rebellion. But if anyone of them has committed the overt act of rebellion, the crime of all is no longer conspiracy to commit rebellion but rebellion itself. This subsists even though the other co-conspirator does not know that one of them had already done the act of rebellion. This legal consequence is not true if the conspiracy is not a crime. If the conspiracy is only a basis of criminal liability, none of the co-conspirators would be liable, unless there is an overt act. So, for as long as anyone shall desist before an overt act in furtherance of the crime was committed, such a desistance would negate criminal liability.
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Illustration: Illustrations: Three persons plan to rob a bank. For as long as none of the conspirators has committed an overt act, there is no crime yet. But when one of them commits any overt act, all of them shall be held liable, unless a co-conspirator was absent from the scene of the crime or he showed up, but he tried to prevent the commission of the crime As a general rule, if there has been a conspiracy to commit a crime in a particular place, anyone who did not appear shall be presumed to have desisted. The exception to this is if such person who did not appear was the mastermind. We have to observe the distinction between the two because conspiracy as a crime, must have a clear and convincing evidence of its existence. Every crime must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. When the conspiracy is just a basis of incurring criminal liability, however, the same may be deduced or inferred from the acts of several offenders in carrying out the commission of the crime. The existence of a conspiracy may be reasonably inferred from the acts of the offenders when such acts disclose or show a common pursuit of the criminal objective. This was the ruling in People v. Pinto, 204 SCRA 9. Although conspiracy is defined as two or more person coming to an agreement regarding the commission of a felony and deciding to commit it, the word person here should not be understood to require a meeting of the coconspirator regarding the commission of the felony. A conspiracy of the second kind can be inferred or deduced even though they have not met as long as they acted in concert or simultaneously, indicative of a meeting of the minds toward a common goal or objective. Conspiracy is a matter of substance which must be alleged in the information, otherwise, the court will not consider the same. In People v. Laurio, 200 SCRA 489, it was held that it must be established by positive and conclusive evidence, not by conjectures or speculations. In Taer v. CA, 186 SCRA 5980, it was held that mere knowledge, acquiescence to, or approval of the act, without cooperation or at least, agreement to cooperate, is not enough to constitute a conspiracy. There must be an intentional participation in the crime with a view to further the common felonious objective. When several persons who do not know each other simultaneously attack the victim, the act of one is the act of all, regardless of the degree of injury inflicted by any one of them. All will be liable for the consequences. A conspiracy is possible even when participants are not known to each other. Do not think that participants are always known to each other.
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A thought of having her husband killed because the latter was maltreating her. She hired some persons to kill him and pointed at her husband. The goons got hold of her husband and started mauling him. The wife took pity and shouted for them to stop but the goons continued. The wife ran away. The wife was prosecuted for parricide. But the Supreme Court said that there was desistance so she is not criminally liable. A law student resented the fact that his brother was killed by A. He hired B to kill A and offered him P50,000.00. He disclosed to B that A was being arraigned in the City Hall of Manila and told him to execute the plan on the following day. In the evening of that same day, the law student changed his mind so he immediately went to the police and told them to dispatch police officers to prevent B from committing the crime. Unfortunately, the police were caught in traffic causing their delay, so that when they reached the place, B had already killed A. In this case, there was no proposal but a conspiracy. They have conspired to execute a crime but the crime involved here is murder and a conspiracy to commit murder is not a crime in itself but merely a basis for incurring criminal liability. This is just a preparatory act, and his desistance negates criminal liability. Proposal is true only up to the point where the party to whom the proposal was made has not yet accepted the proposal. Once the proposal was accepted, a conspiracy arises. Proposal is unilateral, one party makes a proposition to the other; conspiracy is bilateral, it requires two parties. As pointed out earlier, desistance is true only in the attempted stage. Before this stage, there is only a preparatory stage. Conspiracy is only in the preparatory stage. The Supreme Court has ruled that one who desisted is not criminally liable. When a person has set foot to the path of wickedness and brings back his foot to the path of righteousness, the law shall reward him for doing so. Where there are several persons who participated, like in a killing, and they attacked the victim simultaneously, so much so that it cannot be known what participation each one had, all these participants shall be considered as having acted in conspiracy and they will be held collectively responsible. Do not search for an agreement among the participants. If they acted simultaneously to bring about their common intention, conspiracy exists. And when conspiracy exists, do not consider the degree of participation of each conspirator because the act of one is the act of all. As a general rule, they have equal criminal responsibility. Question & Answer
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There are several offenders who acted simultaneously. When they fled, a victim was found dead. Who should be liable for the killing if who actually killed the victim is not known? There is collective responsibility here. Without the principle of conspiracy, nobody would be prosecuted; hence, there is the rule on collective responsibility since it cannot be ascertained who actually killed the victim. There is conspiracy when the offenders acted simultaneously pursuing a common criminal design; thus, acting out a common criminal intent. Illustration: Composite crimes A, B and C have been courting the same lady for several years. On several occasions, they even visited the lady on intervening hours. Because of this, A, B and C became hostile with one another. One day, D invited the young lady and she accepted the invitation. Eventually, the young lady agreed to marry D. When A, B and C learned about this, they all stood up to leave the house of the young lady feeling disappointed. When A looked back at the young lady with D, he saw D laughing menacingly. At that instance, A stabbed D. C and B followed. In this case, it was held that conspiracy was present. The common notion is that when there is conspiracy involved, the participants are punished as principals. This notion is no longer absolute. In the case of People v. Nierra, the Supreme Court ruled that even though there was conspiracy, if a co-conspirator merely cooperated in the commission of the crime with insignificant or minimal acts, such that even without his cooperation, the crime could be carried out as well, such co-conspirator should be punished as an accomplice only. The reason given is that penal laws always favor a milder form of responsibility upon an offender. So it is no longer accurate to think that when there is a conspiracy, all are principals. Notwithstanding that there is conspiracy, a co-conspirator may be held liable only as an accomplice. That means the penalty which shall be imposed upon him is one degree lower. For example, there was a planned robbery, and the taxi driver was present during the planning. There, the conspirators told the taxi driver that they are going to use his taxicab in going to the place of robbery. The taxi driver agreed but said, I will bring you there, and after committing the robbery I will return later. The taxi driver brought the conspirators where the robbery would be committed. After the robbery was finished, he took the conspirators back to his taxi and brought them away. It was held that the taxi driver was liable only as an accomplice. His cooperation was not really indispensable. The robbers could have engaged another taxi. The taxi driver did not really stay during the commission of the robbery. At most, what he only extended was his cooperation. That is why he was given only that penalty for an accomplice.
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A, B, and C, under the influence of marijuana, broke into a house because they learned that the occupants have gone on an excursion. They ransacked the house. A got a colored TV, B saw a camera and took that, and C found a can of salmon and took that. In the crime of robbery with force upon things, the penalty is based on the totality of the value of the personal property taken and not on the individual property taken by him. In Siton v. CA, it was held that the idea of a conspiracy is incompatible with the idea of a free for all. There is no definite opponent or definite intent as when a basketball crowd beats a referee to death.
Composite crimes are crimes which, in substance, consist of more than one crime but in the eyes of the law, there is only one crime. For example, the crimes of robbery with homicide, robbery with rape, robbery with physical injuries. In case the crime committed is a composite crime, the conspirator will be liable for all the acts committed during the commission of the crime agreed upon. This is because, in the eyes of the law, all those acts done in pursuance of the crime agreed upon are acts which constitute a single crime. Illustrations: A, B, and C decided to commit robbery in the house of D. Pursuant to their agreement, A would ransack the second floor, B was to wait outside, and C would stay on the first floor. Unknown to B and C, A raped the girl upstairs. All of them will be liable for robbery with rape. The crime committed is robbery with rape, which is not a complex crime, but an indivisible felony under the Article 294 of the Revised Penal Code. Even if B and C did not know that rape was being committed and they agreed only and conspired to rob, yet rape was part of robbery. Rape can not be separated from robbery. A, B and C agreed to rob the house of D. It was agreed that A would go the second floor, B would stay in the first floor, and C stands guard outside. All went to their designated areas in pursuit of the plan. While A was ransacking the second floor, the owner was awakened. A killed him. A, B and C will be liable for robbery with homicide. This is because, it is well settled that any killing taking place while robbery is being committed shall be treated as a single indivisible offense. As a general rule, when there is conspiracy, the rule is that the act of one is the act of all. This principle applies only to the crime agreed upon. The exception is if any of the co-conspirator would commit a crime not agreed upon. This happens when the crime agreed upon and the crime committed by one of the co-conspirators are distinct crimes.
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the felony by reason of some cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance; frustrated felony when the offender commences the commission of a felony as a consequence but which would produce the felony as a consequence but which nevertheless do not produce the felony by reason of causes independent of the perpetrator; and, consummated felony when all the elements necessary for its execution are present.
Exception to the exception: In acts constituting a single indivisible offense, even though the co-conspirator performed different acts bringing about the composite crime, all will be liable for such crime. They can only evade responsibility for any other crime outside of that agreed upon if it is proved that the particular conspirator had tried to prevent the commission of such other act. The rule would be different if the crime committed was not a composite crime. Illustration: A, B and C agreed to kill D. When they saw the opportunity, A, B and C killed D and after that, A and B ran into different directions. C inspected the pocket of the victim and found that the victim was wearing a ring a diamond ring and he took it. The crimes committed are homicide and theft. As far as the homicide is concerned, A, B and C are liable because that was agreed upon and theft was not an integral part of homicide. This is a distinct crime so the rule will not apply because it was not the crime agreed upon. Insofar as the crime of theft is concerned, C will be the only one liable. So C will be liable for homicide and theft. (3)
According to their gravity Under Article 9, felonies are classified as grave felonies or those to which attaches the capital punishment or penalties which in any of their periods are afflictive; less grave felonies or those to which the law punishes with penalties which in their maximum period was correccional; and light felonies or those infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty is arresto menor.
Why is it necessary to determine whether the crime is grave, less grave or light? To determine whether these felonies can be complexed or not, and to determine the prescription of the crime and the prescription of the penalty. In other words, these are felonies classified according to their gravity, stages and the penalty attached to them. Take note that when the Revised Penal Code speaks of grave and less grave felonies, the definition makes a reference specifically to Article 25 of the Revised Penal Code. Do not omit the phrase In accordance with Article 25 because there is also a classification of penalties under Article 26 that was not applied. If the penalty is fine and exactly P200.00, it is only considered a light felony under Article 9. If the fine is imposed as an alternative penalty or as a single penalty, the fine of P200.00 is considered a correctional penalty under Article 26. If the penalty is exactly P200.00, apply Article 26. It is considered as correctional penalty and it prescribes in 10 years. If the offender is apprehended at any time within ten years, he can be made to suffer the fine. This classification of felony according to gravity is important with respect to the question of prescription of crimes. In the case of light felonies, crimes prescribe in two months. After two months, the state loses the right to prosecute unless the running period is suspended. If the offender escapes while in detention after he has been loose, if there was already judgment that was passed, it can be promulgated even if absent under the New Rules on Criminal Procedure. If the crime is correctional, it prescribes in ten years, except arresto mayor, which prescribes in five years.
CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES This question was asked in the bar examination: How do you classify felonies or how are felonies classified? What the examiner had in mind was Articles 3, 6 and 9. Do not write classification of felonies under Book 2 of the Revised Penal Code. That was what the examiner had in mind because the question does not require candidate to classify but also to define. Therefore, the examiner was after classifications under Articles 3, 6 and 9. Felonies are classified as follows: (1) According to the manner of their commission Under Article 3, they are classified as, intentional felonies or those committed with deliberate intent; and culpable felonies or those resulting from negligence, reckless imprudence, lack of foresight or lack of skill. (2) According to the stages of their execution Under Article 6., felonies are classified as attempted felony when the offender commences the commission of a felony directly by overt acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution which should produce the not the the
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SUPPLETORY APPLICATION OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE Article 10 is the consequence of the legal requirement that you have to distinguish those punished under special laws and those under the Revised Penal Code. With regard to Article 10, observe the distinction. In Article 10, there is a reservation provision of the Revised Penal Code may be applied suppletorily to special laws. You will only apply the provisions of the Revised Penal Code as a supplement to the special law, or simply correlate the violated special law, if needed to avoid an injustice. If no justice would result, do not give suppletorily application of the Revised Penal Code to that of special law. For example, a special law punishes a certain act as a crime. The special law is silent as to the civil liability of one who violates the same. Here is a person who violated the special law and he was prosecuted. His violation caused damage or injury to a private party. May the court pronounce that he is civilly liable to the offended party, considering that the special law is silent on this point? Yes, because Article 100 of the Revised Penal Code may be given suppletory application to prevent an injustice from being done to the offended party. Article 100 states that every person criminally liable for a felony is also civilly liable. That article shall be applied suppletory to avoid an injustice that would be caused to the private offended party, if he would not be indemnified for the damages or injuries sustained by him. In People v. Rodriguez, it was held that the use of arms is an element of rebellion, so a rebel cannot be further prosecuted for possession of firearms. A violation of a special law can never absorb a crime punishable under the Revised Penal Code, because violations of the Revised Penal Code are more serious than a violation of a special law. But a crime in the Revised Penal Code can absorb a crime punishable by a special law if it is a necessary ingredient of the crime in the Revised Penal Code. In the crime of sedition, the use of firearms is not an ingredient of the crime. Hence, two prosecutions can be had: (1) sedition; and (2) illegal possession of firearms. But do not think that when a crime is punished outside of the Revised Penal Code, it is already a special law. For example, the crime of cattle-rustling is not a mala prohibitum but a modification of the crime theft of large cattle. So Presidential Decree No. 533, punishing cattle-rustling, is not a special law. It can absorb the crime of murder. If in the course of cattle rustling, murder was committed, the offender cannot be prosecuted for murder. Murder would be a qualifying circumstance in the crime of qualified cattle rustling. Thias was the ruling in People v. Martinada. The amendments of Presidential Decree No. 6425 (The Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972) by Republic Act No. 7659, which adopted the scale of penalties in the Revised Penal Code, means that mitigating and aggravating circumstances can
now be considered in imposing penalties. Presidential Decree No. 6425 does not expressly prohibit the suppletory application of the Revised Penal Code. The stages of the commission of felonies will also apply since suppletory application is now allowed. Circumstances affecting criminal liability There are five circumstances affecting criminal liability: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Justifying circumstances; Exempting circumstances; Mitigating circumstances; Aggravating circumstances; and Alternative circumstances.
There are two others which are found elsewhere in the provisions of the Revised Penal Code: (1) (2) Absolutory cause; and Extenuating circumstances.
In justifying and exempting circumstances, there is no criminal liability. When an accused invokes them, he in effect admits the commission of a crime but tries to avoid the liability thereof. The burden is upon him to establish beyond reasonable doubt the required conditions to justify or exempt his acts from criminal liability. What is shifted is only the burden of evidence, not the burden of proof. Justifying circumstances contemplate intentional acts and, hence, are incompatible with dolo. Exempting circumstances may be invoked in culpable felonies. Absolutory cause The effect of this is to absolve the offender from criminal liability, although not from civil liability. It has the same effect as an exempting circumstance, but you do not call it as such in order not to confuse it with the circumstances under Article 12. Article 20 provides that the penalties prescribed for accessories shall not be imposed upon those who are such with respect to their spouses, ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural and adopted brothers and sisters, or relatives
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by affinity within the same degrees with the exception of accessories who profited themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the crime. Then, Article 89 provides how criminal liability is extinguished: Death of the convict as to the personal penalties, and as to pecuniary penalties, liability therefor is extinguished if death occurs before final judgment; Service of the sentence; Amnesty; Absolute pardon; Illustrations: Prescription of the crime; Prescription of the penalty; and Marriage of the offended woman as provided in Article 344. Under Article 247, a legally married person who kills or inflicts physical injuries upon his or her spouse whom he surprised having sexual intercourse with his or her paramour or mistress in not criminally liable. Under Article 219, discovering secrets through seizure of correspondence of the ward by their guardian is not penalized. Under Article 332, in the case of theft, swindling and malicious mischief, there is no criminal liability but only civil liability, when the offender and the offended party are related as spouse, ascendant, descendant, brother and sister-in-law living together or where in case the widowed spouse and the property involved is that of the deceased spouse, before such property had passed on to the possession of third parties. Under Article 344, in cases of seduction, abduction, acts of lasciviousness, and rape, the marriage of the offended party shall extinguish the criminal action. Absolutory cause has the effect of an exempting circumstance and they are predicated on lack of voluntariness like instigation. Instigation is associated with criminal intent. Do not consider culpa in connection with instigation. If the crime is culpable, do not talk of instigation. In instigation, the crime is committed with dolo. It is confused with entrapment. Entrapment is not an absolutory cause. Entrapment does not exempt the offender or mitigate his criminal liability. But instigation absolves the offender from criminal liability because in instigation, the offender simply acts as a tool of the law enforcers and, therefore, he is acting without criminal intent because without the instigation, he would not have done the criminal act which he did upon instigation of the law enforcers.
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Difference between instigation and entrapment In instigation, the criminal plan or design exists in the mind of the law enforcer with whom the person instigated cooperated so it is said that the person instigated is acting only as a mere instrument or tool of the law enforcer in the performance of his duties. On the other hand, in entrapment, a criminal design is already in the mind of the person entrapped. It did not emanate from the mind of the law enforcer entrapping him. Entrapment involves only ways and means which are laid down or resorted to facilitate the apprehension of the culprit.
An agent of the narcotics command had been tipped off that a certain house is being used as an opium den by prominent members of the society. The law enforcers cannot themselves penetrate the house because they do not belong to that circle so what they did was to convince a prominent member of society to visit such house to find out what is really happening inside and that so many cars were congregating there. The law enforcers told the undercover man that if he is offered a cigarette, then he should try it to find out whether it is loaded with dangerous drugs or not. This fellow went to the place and mingled there. The time came when he was offered a stick of cigarette and he tried it to see if the cigarette would affect him. Unfortunately, the raid was conducted and he was among those prosecuted for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act. Is he criminally liable? No. He was only there upon instigation of the law enforcers. On his own, he would not be there. The reason he is there is because he cooperated with the law enforcers. There is absence of criminal intent. If the law enforcer were able to enter the house and mingle there, nobody would offer him a cigarette because he is unknown. When he saw somebody, he pleaded to spare him a smoke so this fellow handed to him the cigarette he was smoking and found out that it was loaded with a dangerous drug. He arrested the fellow. Defense was that he would not give a cigarette if he was not asked. Is he criminally liable? Yes. This is a case of entrapment and not instigation. Even if the law enforcer did not ask for a cigarette, the offender was already committing a crime. The law enforcer ascertained if it is a violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act. The means employed by the law enforcer did not make the accused commit a crime. Entrapment is not an absolutory cause because in entrapment, the offender is already committing a crime. In another instance, a law enforcer pretended to be a buyer of marijuana. He approached a person suspected to be a pusher and prevailed upon this person to sell him two kilos of dried marijuana leaves and this fellow gave him and delivered them. He apprehended the fellow. Defense is instigation, because he would not have come out for the marijuana leaves if the law enforcer had not instigated him. It is a case of entrapment because the fellow is already committing the crime from the mere fact that he is possessing marijuana. Even
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without selling, there is a crime committed by him: illegal possession of dangerous drugs. How can one sell marijuana if he is not in possession thereof. The law enforcer is only ascertaining if this fellow is selling marijuana leaves, so this is entrapment, not instigation. Selling is not necessary to commit the crime, mere possession is already a crime. A fellow wants to make money. He was approached by a law enforcer and was asked if he wanted to deliver a package to a certain person. When that fellow was delivering the package, he was apprehended. Is he criminally liable? This is a case of instigation; he is not committing a crime. A policeman suspected a fellow selling marijuana. The law enforcer asked him, Are you selling that? How much? Could you bring that to the other fellow there? When he brought it there, the person, who happens to be a law enforcer, to whom the package was brought to found it to be marijuana. Even without bringing, he is already possessing the marijuana. The fact that he was appointed to another person to find out its contents, is to discover whether the crime is committed. This is entrapment. The element which makes instigation an absolutory cause is the lack of criminal intent as an element of voluntariness. If the instigator is a law enforcer, the person instigated cannot be criminally liable, because it is the law enforcer who planted that criminal mind in him to commit the crime, without which he would not have been a criminal. If the instigator is not a law enforcer, both will be criminally liable, you cannot have a case of instigation. In instigation, the private citizen only cooperates with the law enforcer to a point when the private citizen upon instigation of the law enforcer incriminates himself. It would be contrary to public policy to prosecute a citizen who only cooperated with the law enforcer. The private citizen believes that he is a law enforcer and that is why when the law enforcer tells him, he believes that it is a civil duty to cooperate. If the person instigated does not know that the person is instigating him is a law enforcer or he knows him to be not a law enforcer, this is not a case of instigation. This is a case of inducement, both will be criminally liable. In entrapment, the person entrapped should not know that the person trying to entrap him was a law enforcer. The idea is incompatible with each other because in entrapment, the person entrapped is actually committing a crime. The officer who entrapped him only lays down ways and means to have evidence of the commission of the crime, but even without those ways and means, the person entrapped is actually engaged in a violation of the law. Instigation absolves the person instigated from criminal liability. This is based on the rule that a person cannot be a criminal if his mind is not criminal. On the other hand, entrapment is not an absolutory cause. It is not even mitigating.
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In case of somnambulism or one who acts while sleeping, the person involved is definitely acting without freedom and without sufficient intelligence, because he is asleep. He is moving like a robot, unaware of what he is doing. So the element of voluntariness which is necessary in dolo and culpa is not present. Somnambulism is an absolutory cause. If element of voluntariness is absent, there is no criminal liability, although there is civil liability, and if the circumstance is not among those enumerated in Article 12, refer to the circumstance as an absolutory cause. Mistake of fact is not absolutory cause. The offender is acting without criminal intent. So in mistake of fact, it is necessary that had the facts been true as the accused believed them to be, this act is justified. If not, there is criminal liability, because there is no mistake of fact anymore. The offender must believe he is performing a lawful act. Extenuating circumstances The effect of this is to mitigate the criminal liability of the offender. In other words, this has the same effect as mitigating circumstances, only you do not call it mitigating because this is not found in Article 13. Illustrations: An unwed mother killed her child in order to conceal a dishonor. The concealment of dishonor is an extenuating circumstance insofar as the unwed mother or the maternal grandparents is concerned, but not insofar as the father of the child is concerned. Mother killing her new born child to conceal her dishonor, penalty is lowered by two degrees. Since there is a material lowering of the penalty or mitigating the penalty, this is an extenuating circumstance. The concealment of honor by mother in the crime of infanticide is an extenuating circumstance but not in the case of parricide when the age of the victim is three days old and above. In the crime of adultery on the part of a married woman abandoned by her husband, at the time she was abandoned by her husband, is it necessary for her to seek the company of another man. Abandonment by the husband does not justify the act of the woman. It only extenuates or reduces criminal liability. When the effect of the circumstance is to lower the penalty there is an extenuating circumstance. A kleptomaniac is one who cannot resist the temptation of stealing things which appeal to his desire. This is not exempting. One who is a kleptomaniac and who would steal objects of his desire is criminally liable. But he would be given the benefit of a mitigating circumstance analogous to paragraph 9 of Article 13, that of suffering from an illness which diminishes the exercise of his will power without, however, depriving him of the consciousness of his act. So this is an extenuating circumstance. The effect is to mitigate the criminal liability.
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Self Defense Distinctions between circumstances justifying circumstances and exempting
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In justifying circumstances (1) (2) (3) (4) The circumstance affects the act, not the actor; The act complained of is considered to have been done within the bounds of law; hence, it is legitimate and lawful in the eyes of the law; Since the act is considered lawful, there is no crime, and because there is no crime, there is no criminal; Since there is no crime or criminal, there is no criminal liability as well as civil liability.
In justifying circumstances, the most important is self-defense. When this is given in the bar, it is the element of unlawful aggression that is in issue. Never confuse unlawful aggression with provocation. Mere provocation is not enough. Illustration: A and B are long standing enemies. Because of their continuous quarrel over the boundaries of their adjoining properties, when A saw B one afternoon, he approached the latter in a menacing manner with a bolo in his hand. When he was about five feet away from B, B pulled out a revolver and shot A on the chest, killing him. Is B criminally liable? What crime was committed, if any? The act of A is nothing but a provocation. It cannot be characterized as an unlawful aggression because in criminal law, an unlawful aggression is an attack or a threatened attack which produces an imminent danger to the life and limb of the one resorting to self-defense. In the facts of the problem given above, what was said was that A was holding a bolo. That bolo does not produce any real or imminent danger unless a raises his arm with the bolo. As long as that arm of A was down holding the bolo, there is no imminent danger to the life or limb of B. Therefore, the act of B in shooting A is not justified. Defense of rights is included in the circumstances of defense and so is defense of honor. In US v. Mateo, while a woman was sleeping, her sister and brother-in-law went to see a movie and came home late that evening. The accused was already asleep. The brother-in-law came up first while his wife was still in the staircase. He started feeling through the dark, and in the process, he awakened the accused. Believing that her honor was at stake, she got a pair of scissors and stabbed the man. When the lights were turned on, she realized that she had stabbed her brother-in-law. The accused claimed as having acted in defense of her honor and mistake of fact. She said that she believed that her own honor was at stake. It was held that the whole matter is purely her imagination. Touching the arm could not produce such danger as would really be imminent to the honor of the woman. Apparently, under the Revised Penal Code, the honor of a woman in respect of her defense is equated with her virginity. In US v. Jaurigue, it was held that it was not possible to rape the accused because the whole thing transpired in the church, where there were so many people. Therefore, her availing of defense of honor is not tenable. She could not possibly be raped in that place. Defense of honor here is being equated with one of abuse of chastity of a woman. In this case, the offended party placed his hand on the thigh of the woman who was then praying. There was already some sort of aggression but it was not enough to warrant the act
In exempting circumstances (1) (2) (3) The circumstances affect the actor, not the act; The act complained of is actually wrongful, but the actor acted without voluntariness. He is a mere tool or instrument of the crime; Since the act complained of is actually wrongful, there is a crime. But because the actor acted without voluntariness, there is absence of dolo or culpa. There is no criminal; Since there is a crime committed but there is no criminal, there is civil liability for the wrong done. But there is no criminal liability. However, in paragraphs 4 and 7 of Article 12, there is neither criminal nor civil liability.
(4)
When you apply for justifying or exempting circumstances, it is confession and avoidance and burden of proof shifts to the accused and he can no longer rely on weakness of prosecutions evidence Justifying circumstances Since the justifying circumstances are in the nature of defensive acts, there must be always unlawful aggression. The reasonableness of the means employed depends on the gravity of the aggression. If the unlawful aggressor was killed, this can only be justified if it was done to save the life of the person defending or the person being defended. The equation is life was taken to save life.
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resorted to by the accused in getting a small knife from her bag and thrusting it on the chest of the offended party. Do not confuse unlawful aggression with provocation. What justifies the killing of a supposed unlawful aggressor is that if the offender did not kill the aggressor, it will be his own life that will be lost. That will be the situation. If that is not the situation, even if there was an unlawful aggression that has already begun, you cannot invoke self-defense. Illustration: Two policemen quarreled inside a police precinct. One shot the other. The other was wounded on his thigh. The policeman who was wounded on the thigh jumped on the arm of the fellow who shot him. In the process, they wrestled for possession of the gun. The policeman who shot the other guy fell on the floor. On that point, this policeman who was shot at the thigh was already able to get hold of the revolver. In that position, he started emptying the revolver of the other policeman who was lying on the floor. In this case, it was held that the defense of self-defense is no available. The shooting was not justified. In People v. Rodriguez, a woman went into the house of another woman whom she suspected of having an affair with her husband. She started pouring gasoline on the house of the woman. Since the woman has children inside the house, she jumped out to prevent this other woman from pouring gasoline around the house. The woman who was pouring gasoline had a bolo, so she started hacking the other woman with it. They grappled with the bolo. At that moment, the one who jumped out of the house was able to wrest the bolo away and started hacking the other woman. It was held that the hacking was not justified. Actually, when she killed the supposed unlawful aggressor, her life and limb were no longer in imminent danger. That is the focal point. At the time the accused killed the supposed unlawful aggressor, was her life in danger? If the answer is no, there is no self-defense. But while there may be no justifying circumstance, do not forget the incomplete self-defense. This is a mitigating circumstance under paragraph 1 of Article 13. This mitigating circumstance is either privileged or ordinary. If ordinary, it has the effect of reducing the imposable penalty to the minimum period. But if it is privileged, it has the effect of lowering the penalty by one to two degrees, depending on how the court will regard the absence or presence of conditions to justify the act. Defense of property rights This can only be invoked if the life and limb of the person making the defense is also the subject of unlawful aggression. Life cannot be equal to property. Defense of stranger
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If the person being defended is already a second cousin, you do not invoke defense of relative anymore. It will be defense of stranger. This is vital because if the person making the defense acted out or revenge, resentment or some evil motive in killing the aggressor, he cannot invoke the justifying circumstance if the relative defended is already a stranger in the eyes of the law. On the other hand, if the relative defended is still within the coverage of defense of relative, even though he acted out of some evil motive, it would still apply. It is enough that there was unlawful aggression against the relative defended, and that the person defending did not contribute to the unlawful aggression. Question & Answer The person being defended was a relative a first cousin. But the fellow who killed the aggressor had some score to settle with the aggressor. Is he entitled to a justifying circumstance? Yes. In law, the condition that a person making the defense did not act out of revenge, resentment or evil motive is not a requirement in defense of relative. This is only required in defense of strangers. Incomplete self-defense or incomplete justifying circumstance or incomplete exempting circumstances When you say incomplete justifying circumstance, it means that not all the requisites to justify the act are present or not the requisites to exempt from criminal liability are present. How, if at all, may incomplete self-defense affect the criminal liability of the offender? If the question specifically refers to incomplete self-defense, defense of relative or defense of stranger, you have to qualify your answer. First, to have incomplete self-defense, the offended party must be guilty of unlawful aggression. Without this, there can be no incomplete self-defense, defense of relative, or defense of stranger. Second, if only the element of unlawful aggression is present, the other requisites being absent, the offender shall be given only the benefit of an ordinary mitigating circumstance. Third, if aside from the element of unlawful aggression another requisite, but not all, are present, the offender shall be given the benefit of a privileged mitigating circumstance. In such a case, the imposable penalty shall be reduced by one or two degrees depending upon how the court regards the importance of the requisites present. Or absent.
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If the question refers generally to justifying or exempting circumstances, the question should be, how may incomplete justifying circumstance affect criminal liability of the offender, if at all? Make a separate answer with respect to self-defense, defense of relative or defense of stranger because in these cases, you always have to specify the element of unlawful aggression; otherwise, there would be no incomplete selfdefense, defense of relative or defense of stranger. In general, with respect to other circumstances, you need only to say this: If less than a majority of the requisites necessary to justify the act or exempt from criminal liability are present, the offender shall only be entitled to an ordinary mitigating circumstance. If a majority of the requisites needed to justify the act or exempt from criminal liability are present, the offender shall be given the benefit of a privileged mitigating circumstance. The penalty shall be lowered by one or two degrees. When there are only two conditions to justify the act or to exempt from criminal liability, the presence of one shall be regarded as the majority. State of necessity The state of necessity must not have been created by the one invoking the justifying circumstances. For example, A drove his car beyond the speed limit so much so that when he reached the curve, his vehicle skidded towards a ravine. He swerved his car towards a house, destroying it and killing the occupant therein. A cannot be justified because the state of necessity was brought about by his own felonious act. Civil liability referred to in a state of necessity is based not on the act committed but on the benefit derived from the state of necessity. So the accused will not be civilly liable if he did not receive any benefit out of the state of necessity. On the other hand, persons who did not participate in the damage or injury would be pro tanto civilly liable if they derived benefit out of the state of necessity. Civil liability is based on the benefit derived and not on the act, damage or injury caused. It is wrong to treat this as an exception to the rule that in justifying circumstances, there is no criminal nor civil liability, on the principle that no one should enrich himself at the expense of another. Illustration: A and B are owners of adjoining lands. A owns the land for planting certain crops. B owns the land for raising certain goats. C used another land for a vegetable garden. There was heavy rain and floods. Dam was opened. C drove all the goats of B to the land of A. The goats rushed to the land of A to be saved, but the land of A was destroyed. The author of the act is C, but C is
not civilly liable because he did not receive benefits. It was B who was benefited, although he was not the actor. He cannot claim that it was fortuitous event. B will answer only to the extent of the benefit derived by him. If C who drove all the goats is accused of malicious mischief, his defense would be that he acted out of a state of necessity. He will not be civilly liable. Fulfillment of duty In the justifying circumstance of a person having acted out of fulfillment of a duty and the lawful exercise of a right or office, there are only two conditions: (1) (2) The felony was committed while the offender was in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or office; and The resulting felony is the unavoidable consequence of the due fulfillment of the duty or the lawful exercise of the right or office.
Invariably, when you are given a problem on this premise, and the first condition is present, but the second is not because the offender acted with culpa, the offender will be entitled to a privelege mitigating circumstance. This is what you call incomplete justification of fulfillment of duty or incomplete justification of exercise of a right. In that case, the penalty would be reduced by one or two degrees. In People v. Oanis and Callanta, the accused Chief of Police and the constabulary soldier were sent out to arrest a certain Balagtas, supposedly a notorious bandit. There was an order to kill Balagtas if he would resist. The accused arrived at the house of a dancer who was supposedly the girlfriend of Balagtas. When they were there, they saw a certain person who resembled Balagtas in all his bodily appearance sleeping on a bamboo bed but facing the other direction. The accused, without going around the house, started firing at the man. They found out later on that the man was not really Balagtas. They tried to invoke the justifying circumstance of having acted in fulfillment of a duty. The second requisite is absent because they acted with negligence. There was nothing that prevented them from looking around the house and looking at the face of the fellow who was sleeping. There could not be any danger on their life and limb. Hence, they were held guilty of the crime of murder because the fellow was killed when he was sleeping and totally defenseless. However, the Supreme Court granted them the benefit of incomplete justification of fulfillment of duty and the penalty was reduced by one or two degrees. Do not confuse fulfillment of a duty with self-defense. Illustration: A, a policeman, while waiting for his wife to go home, was suddenly stabbed at the back by B, a hoodlum, who mistook him for someone else. When A saw B, he drew his revolver and went after B. After firing a shot in the air, B did not
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stop so A shot B who was hit at a vital part of the body. B died. Is the act of A justified? Yes. The justifying circumstance of self-defense cannot be invoked because the unlawful aggression had already ceased by the time A shot B. When the unlawful aggressor started fleeing, the unlawful aggression ceased. If the person attacked runs after him, in the eyes of the law, he becomes the unlawful aggressor. Self-defense cannot be invoked. You apply paragraph 5 on fulfillment of duty. The offender was not only defending himself but was acting in fulfillment of a duty, to bring the criminal to the authorities. As long as he was not acting out of malice when he fired at the fleeing criminal, he cannot be made criminally liable. However, this is true only if it was the person who stabbed was the one killed. But if, let us say, the policeman was stabbed and despite the fact that the aggressor ran into a crowd of people, the policeman still fired indiscriminately. The policeman would be held criminally liable because he acted with imprudence in firing toward several people where the offender had run. But although he will be criminally liable, he will be given the benefit of an incomplete fulfillment of duty. Exempting circumstances In exempting circumstances, the reason for the exemption lies on the involuntariness of the act one or some of the ingredients of voluntariness such as criminal intent, intelligence, or freedom of action on the part of the offender is missing. In case it is a culpable felony, there is absence of freedom of action or intelligence, or absence of negligence, imprudence, lack of foresight or lack of skill. Imbecility and insanity There is complete absence of intelligence. Imbecile has an IQ of 7. The intellectual deficiency is permanent. There is no lucid interval unlike in insanity. The insanity that is exempting is limited only to mental aberration or disease of the mind and must completely impair the intelligence of the accused. Under common law countries, emotional or spiritual insanity are exempting circumstances unlike in this jurisdiction because the Revised Administrative Code, as defined is limited to mental aberration of the mind. This was the ruling in People v. Dungo. In People v. Rafanan, decided on November 21, 1991, the following are the two tests for exemption on grounds of insanity: (1) The test of cognition, or whether the accused acted with complete deprivation of intelligence in committing said crime; and (2) (2)
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The test of volition, or whether the accused acted in total deprivation of freedom of will.
Schizoprenia (dementia praecox) can only be considered a mitigating circumstance because it does not completely deprive the offender of consciousness of his acts.
Minority In exempting circumstances, the most important issue is how the minority of the offender affected his criminal liability. It seems that the view of many is that when the offender is a youthful offender, he must necessarily be confined in a reformatory. This is wrong. A youthful offender can only be confined in a reformatory upon order of the court. Under the amendment to Presidential Decree No. 603, Presidential Decree No. 1179 requires that before a youthful offender may be given the benefit if a suspension of sentence, there must be an application filed with the court which should pronounce sentence. Note that the commitment of the offender in a reformatory is just a consequence of the suspension of the sentence. If the sentence is not suspended, there is no commitment in a reformatory. The commitment is in a penitentiary, since suspension of sentence requires certain conditions: (1) (2) (3) The crime committed should not be punishable by reclusion perpetua or death penalty; The offender should not have been given the benefit of a suspended sentence before. This means he is a first timer; He must be below 18 years old because a youthful offender is one who is below 18.
Note that the age of majority has been reduced to 18. There is no more bracket where the offender is a minor yet no longer entitled to a mitigating circumstance. An offender below 18 is always entitled to a mitigating or exempting circumstance. How does the minority of the offender affect his criminal liability? (1) If the offender is within the bracket of nine years old exactly or less, he is exempt from criminal liability but not from civil liability. This type of offenders are absolutely exempt. Even if the offender nine years or below acted with discernment, this should not be taken against him because in this age bracket, the exemption is absolute. If over nine but below 15, a distinction has to be made whether the offender acted with or without discernment. The burden is upon the prosecution to prove that the offender acted with discernment. It is
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not for the minor to prove that he acted without discernment. All that the minor has to show is that he is within the age bracket. If the prosecution would want to pin criminal liability on him, it has to prove that the crime was committed with discernment. Here, if the offender was exempt from criminal liability because the prosecution was not able to prove that the offender acted with discernment, he is only civilly liable but he will be committed to the surveillance of his parents who will be required to report to the court periodically on the progress or development of the offender. If the offender is proven to have acted with discernment, this is where the court may give him the benefit of a suspended sentence. He may be given the benefit of a suspended sentence under the conditions mentioned earlier and only if he would file an application therefor. Suspension of sentence is not automatic. If the youthful offender has filed an application therefor. (3) If at the time the judgment is to be promulgated he is already above 18, he cannot avail of a suspended sentence. The reason is because if the sentence were to be suspended, he would be committed in a reformatory. Since he cannot be committed to a reformatory anymore because he is not less than 18 years old, he would have to be committed to a penitentiary. That means promulgation of the sentence shall not be suspended. If the sentence should not be suspended, although the minor may be qualified, the court will promulgate the sentence but the minor shall be entitled to the reduction of the penalty by at least two degrees. When the offender is over nine but below 15, the penalty to be imposed is discretionary on the court, but lowered by at least two degrees. It may be lowered by three or four degrees, depending upon whether the court deems best for the interest of the offender. The limitation that it should be lowered by at least two degrees is just a limitation on the power of the court to reduce the penalty. It cannot be less than two degrees. (4) If the offender is 15 years old and above but below 18, there is no exemption anymore but he is also given the benefit of a suspended sentence under the conditions stated earlier and if at the time the sentence is promulgated, he is not 18 years old or over yet. If the sentence is promulgated, the court will impose a penalty one degree lower. This time it is fixed. It is to be imposed one degree lower and in the proper periods subject to the rules in Article 64.
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Under Article 12, paragraph 4, the offender is exempt not only from criminal but also from civil liability. This paragraph embodies the Latin maxim damnum absque injuria. Illustration: A person who is driving his car within the speed limit, while considering the condition of the traffic and the pedestrians at that time, tripped on a stone with one of his car tires. The stone flew hitting a pedestrian on the head. The pedestrian suffered profuse bleeding. What is the liability of the driver? There is no civil liability under paragraph 4 of Article 12. Although, this is just an exempting circumstance, where generally there is civil liability, yet, in paragraph 4 of Article 12, there is no civil liability as well as criminal liability. The driver is not under obligation to defray the medical expenses. However, correlate paragraph 4 of Article 12 with the second paragraph of Article 275. Article 275 gives you the crime of abandoning the victim of ones own accident. It is a crime. Here, the accident referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 275 is in the concept of paragraph 4 of Article 12. This means that the offender must be performing a lawful act, that he was doing it with due care but somehow, injury resulted by mere accident without fault or intention of causing it. If at the very beginning, the offender was negligent, you do not apply Article 275, paragraph 2. Instead, it will be Article 365 on criminal negligence. Notice that in the last paragraph of Article 365, in the case of the so-called hit and run drivers who have injured somebody and would abandon the victim of the accident, the penalty is qualified to a higher degree. Here, under paragraph 4 of Article 12, the infliction of the injury by mere accident does not give rise to a criminal or civil liability, but the person who caused the injury is duty bound to attend to the person who was injured. If he would abandon him, it is in that abandonment that the crime arises which is punished under the second paragraph of Article 275. Compulsion of irresistible uncontrollable fear force and under the impulse of an
The offender must be totally deprived of freedom. If the offender has still freedom of choice, whether to act or not, even if force was employed on him or even if he is suffering from uncontrollable fear, he is not exempt from criminal liability because he is still possessed with voluntariness. In exempting circumstances, the offender must act without voluntariness. In a situation where the offender would for exemption are not all present, the circumstance of incomplete exemption the rule if majority of the requisites otherwise be exempt, but the requisites offender is still entitled to a mitigating under paragraph 1 of Article 13. Apply to exempt from criminal liability are
Damnum absque injuria
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present. The offender shall be given the benefit of privelege mitigating circumstances. That means that the penalty prescribed of the crime committed shall be reduced by one or two degrees in accordance with Article 69 of the Revised Penal Code. If less than a majority of the requisites for exemption are present, the offender shall be given only the benefit of ordinary mitigating circumstances. That means the penalty shall be reduced to the minimum period of the prescribed penalty, unless the mitigating circumstance is offset by an aggravating circumstance. Mitigating circumstances Distinctions between ordinary mitigating circumstances (1) mitigating circumstances and privileged
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effect of a privilege mitigating circumstances if there is no aggravating circumstance at all. Correlate Article 13 with Articles 63 and 64. Article 13 is meaningless without knowing the rules of imposing the penalties under Articles 63 and 64. In bar problems, when you are given indeterminate sentences, these articles are very important. When the circumstance which mitigates criminal liability is privileged, you give effect to it above all considerations. In other words, before you go into any circumstance, lower first the penalty to the proper degree. That is precisely why this circumstance is considered privileged. It takes preference over all other circumstances. Question & Answer
As to the nature of the circumstances Ordinary mitigating circumstances can be offset by aggravating circumstances. Privilege mitigating circumstance aggravating circumstance. can never be offset by any A 17 year old boy committed parricide. Will he be given the benefit of Indeterminate Sentence Law? Then, the facts state, penalty for parricide is reclusion perpetua to death. You have learned that the Indeterminate Sentence Law does not apply, among other situations, when the penalty imposed is death or life imprisonment. But then in the problem given, the offender is a 17-year old boy. That circumstance is privileged. So before you go in the Indeterminate Sentence Law, you have to apply that circumstance first. Being a 17-year old boy, therefore, the penalty would go one degree lower and the penalty for parricide which now stands at reclusion perpetua will go down to reclusion temporal. Reclusion temporal is already governed by the Indeterminate Sentence Law. The answer, therefore, is yes. He shall be given the benefit of the Indeterminate Sentence Law. Although the penalty prescribed for the crime committed is reclusion perpetua, that is not the imposable penalty, since being 17 years old is a privilege mitigating circumstance. That privilege lowers the penalty by one degree. The imposable penalty, therefore, is reclusion temporal. The Indeterminate Sentence Law applies to this and so the offender will be given its benefit. Criminal laws are to be construed always in a manner liberal or lenient to the offender. Between giving the offender the benefit of the Indeterminate Sentence Law and withholding it away from him, there is more reason to give him its benefit. It is wrong for you to determine whether the Indeterminate Sentence Law will apply or not on the basis of reclusion perpetua because that is not the imposable penalty. The moment you do that, you disregard the privileged character of minority. You are only treating it as an ordinary mitigating circumstance. Privilege mitigating circumstance will apply over and above all other considerations. When you arrive at the correct penalty, that is
(2)
As to effect Ordinary mitigating circumstances, if not offset, will operate to reduce the penalty to the minimum period, provided the penalty is a divisible one. Privilege mitigating circumstances operate to reduce the penalty by one or two degrees, depending upon what the law provides.
You can easily detect whether the circumstance which mitigates the liability of the offender is privilege or not, that is, if the penalty is reduced by degree. If the penalty is lowered by one or two degrees, it is privilege; therefore, even if there is an aggravating circumstance, do not compensate because that would be violating the rules. The circumstances under Article 13 are generally ordinary mitigating, except in paragraph 1, where it is privilege, Article 69 would apply. So also, paragraph 2, in cases where the offender is below 18 years old, such an offender if criminally liable is entitled to the lowering of penalty by one degree. But if over nine but under 15, he is entitled to a discretionary penalty of at least two degrees lower. When there is a lowering of penalties by degrees, it is a privilege. It cannot be offset by an aggravating circumstance. Although the bulk of the circumstances in Article 13 are ordinary mitigating circumstances, yet, when the crime committed is punishable by a divisible penalty, two or more of this ordinary mitigating circumstances shall have the
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the time when you find out whether the Indeterminate Sentence Law will apply or not. For purposes of lowering the penalty by one or two degrees, the age of the offender at the time of the commission of the crime shall be the basis, not the age of the offender at the time the sentence is to be imposed. But for purposes of suspension of the sentence, the age of the offender at the time the crime was committed is not considered, it is the age of the offender at the time the sentence is to be promulgated. Praeter intentionem The common circumstance given in the bar of praeter intentionem, under paragraph 3, means that there must be a notable disproportion between the means employed by the offender compared to that of the resulting felony. If the resulting felony could be expected from the means employed, this circumstance does not avail. This circumstance does not apply when the crime results from criminal negligence or culpa. When the crime is the product of reckless imprudence or simple negligence, mitigating circumstances does not apply. This is one of the three instances where the offender has performed a felony different from that which he intended. Therefore, this is the product of intentional felony, not a culpable one. Sufficient threat or provocation This is mitigating only if the crime was committed on the very person who made the threat or provocation. The common set-up given in a bar problem is that of provocation was given by somebody. The person provoked cannot retaliate against him; thus, the person provoked retaliated on a younger brother or on an elder father. Although in fact, there is sufficient provocation, it is not mitigating because the one who gives the provocation is not the one against whom the crime was committed. Question & Answer A was walking in front of the house of B. B at that time was with his brother C. C told B that sometime in the past, A boxed him, and because he was small, he did not fight back. B approached A and boxed him, but A cannot hit back at B because B is bigger, so A boxed C. Can A invoke sufficient provocation to mitigate criminal liability? No. Sufficient provocation must come from the offended party. There may actually be sufficient provocation which immediately preceded the act, but if provocation did not come from the person offended, paragraph 4, Article 13 will not apply.
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The commission of the felony must be immediate to the threat or provocation in order that this circumstance be mitigating. If there is sufficient break of time before the provocation or threat and the consequent commission of the crime, the law presupposes that during that interval, whatever anger or diminished self control may have emerged from the offender had already vanished or disappeared. In applying this mitigating circumstance, the courts are generally considering that there must be no break between the provocation or threat and the commission of the felony. In other words, the felony was committed precisely because he was then and there provoked. However, the recent rulings of the Supreme Court, as well as the Court of Appeals, has stretched this criterion it is not only a matter of time anymore. Before, there was a ruling that if a period of one hour had lapsed between the provocation and the commission of the felony, this mitigating circumstance is no longer applicable. Illustration: The accused went to a barrio dance. In that gathering, there was a bully and he told the accused that he is not allowed to go inside. The accused tried to reason out but the bully slapped him several times in front of so many people, some of whom were ladies who were being courted by the accused, so he was humiliated and embarrassed. However, he cannot fight the bully at that time because the latter was much bigger and heavier. Accused had no choice but to go home. When he saw the bully again, this time, he was armed with a knife and he stabbed the bully to death. The evidence for the accused showed that when he went home, he was not able to sleep throughout the night, thinking of the humiliation and outrage done to him, despite the lapse of about 22 hours. The Supreme Court gave him the benefit of this mitigating circumstance. The reason stated by the Supreme Court for allowing the accused to be benefited by this mitigating circumstance is that the effect of the humiliation and outrage emitted by the offended party as a provocation upon the accused was still present when he committed the crime and, therefore, the reason for paragraph 4 still applies. The accused was still acting under a diminished self control because he was thinking of the humiliation he suffered in the hands of the offended party. The outrage was so serious unless vindicated. This is the correct interpretation of paragraph 4, Article 13. As long as the offender at the time he committed the felony was still under the influence of the outrage caused by the provocation or threat, he is acting under a diminished self control. This is the reason why it is mitigating. You have to look at two criteria: (1) If from the element of time, there is a material lapse of time stated in the problem and there is nothing stated in the problem that the effect of the threat or provocation had prolonged and affected the offender at
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the time he committed the crime, then you use the criterion based on the time element. (2) However, if there is that time element and at the same time, facts are given indicating that at the time the offender committed the crime, he is still suffering from outrage of the threat or provocation done to him, then he will still get the benefit of this mitigating circumstance. was the the the
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circumstance arises from another set of facts. Since they are predicated on different set of facts, they may be appreciated together, although they arose from one and the same case. Hence, the prohibition against considering all these mitigating circumstances together and not as one applies only if they would be taken on the basis of the same set of facts. If the case involves a series of facts, then you can predicate any one of these circumstances on one fact and the other on another fact and so on. The passion must be legitimate. As a rule, it cannot be based on common law relationship because common law relationships are illicit. However, consider whether passion or obfuscation is generated by common law relationship or by some other human consideration. In a case where the relationship between the accused and the woman he was living with was one of common law, he came home and surprised his common law wife having sexual intercourse with a friend. This infuriated him. He killed the friend and he claimed passion or obfuscation. The trial court denied his claim because the relationship was a common law one. On review, the accused was given the benefit of the circumstances and the basis of considering passion or obfuscation in favor of the accused was the act of the common law wife in committing adultery right from the conjugal bed. Whether or not they are married, any man who discovers that infidelity was committed on the very bed provided by him to the woman would naturally be subjected to obfuscation. When a married person surprised his better half in the act of sexual intercourse with another, he gets the benefit of Article 247. However, that requisite which in the first place, the offender must have surprised his/her spouse actually committing sexual intercourse should be present. If the surprising was done not in the actual act of sexual intercourse but before or after it, then Article 247 does not apply. Although this is the ruling, still, the accused will be given the benefit of sufficient provocation if the intercourse was done in his dwelling. If this act was done somewhere else and the accused kills the paramour or the spouse, this may be considered as mitigation of a grave offense to him or otherwise as a situation sufficient to create passion or obfuscation. Therefore, when a married man upon coming home, surprises his wife who was nude and lying with another man who was also nude, Article 247 does not apply. If he kills them, vindication of a grave offense will be mitigating in favor of the offender. Illustrations: A is courting B, a receptionist in a beerhouse. C danced with B. A saw this and stabbed C. It was held that jealousy is an acknowledged basis of passion.
In People v. Diokno, a Chinaman eloped with a woman. Actually, it almost three days before accused was able to locate the house where Chinaman brought the woman. Here, sufficient provocation was one of mitigating circumstances considered by the Supreme Court in favor of accused. Vindication of a grave offense
The word offense should not be taken as a crime. It is enough if what was imputed or what was done was wrong. In considering whether the wrong is a grave one upon the person who committed the crime, his age, education and social status will be considered. Here, in vindication of a grave offense, the vindication need not be done by the person upon whom the grave offense was committed. So, unlike in sufficient threat or provocation where the crime should be inflicted upon the very person who made the threat or provocation, here, it need not be the same person who committed the grave offense or who was offended by the wrong done by the offended party. The word immediate here does not carry the same meaning as that under paragraph 4. The word immediate here is an erroneous Spanish translation because the Spanish word is proxima and not immediatementa. Therefore, it is enough that the offender committed the crime with the grave offense done to him, his spouse, his ascendant or descendant or to his brother or sister, whether natural, adopted or legitimate and that is the proximate cause of the commission of the crime. Passion or obfuscation This stands on the premise or proposition that the offender is suffering from a diminished self control because of the passion or obfuscation. The same is true with the circumstances under paragraphs 4 and 5. So, there is a ruling to the effect that if the offender is given the benefit of paragraph 4, he cannot be given the benefit of paragraph 5 or 6, or vice-versa. Only one of the three mitigating circumstances should be given in favor of the offender. However, in one case, one of the mitigating circumstances under paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 stands or arises from a set of facts, and another mitigating
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A, a male classmate is escorting B, a female classmate. On the way out, some men whistled lustfully. The male classmate stabbed said men. This was held to be obfuscation. When a man saw a woman bathing, almost naked, for which reason he raped her, such man cannot claim passion as a mitigating circumstance. A man and a woman were living together for 15 years. The man left the village where they were living and never returned home. The common law wife learned that he was getting married to a classmate. On the scheduled wedding day, she stabbed the groom in the chest, instantly killing him. She confessed and explained that any woman cannot tolerate what he did to her. She gave him the best years of her life. She practically waited for him day and night. It was held that passion and obfuscation were considered mitigating. Ingratitude was shown here. Voluntary surrender The essence of voluntary surrender requires that the offender, after having committed the crime, had evaded the law enforcers and the law enforcers do not know of his whereabouts. In short, he continues to elude arrest. If, under this circumstance, the offender would come out in the open and he gives himself up, his act of doing so will be considered as indicative of repentance and he also saves the government the time and the expense of looking for him. As a general rule, if after committing the crime, the offender did not flee and he went with the responding law enforcers meekly, voluntary surrender is not applicable. However, there is a ruling that if after committing the crime, the offender did not flee and instead waited for the law enforcers to arrive and he surrendered the weapon he used in killing the victim, the ruling was that voluntary surrender is mitigating. In this case, the offender had the opportunity to go into hiding, the fact that he did not flee is not voluntary surrender. However, if he comes out from hiding because he is seriously ill and he went to get medical treatment, the surrender is not considered as indicative of remorse or repentance. The surrender here is only done out of convenience to save his own self. Hence, it is not mitigating. Even if the offender may have gone into hiding, if the law enforcers had already known where he is hiding and it is just a matter of time before he is flushed out of that place, then even if the law enforcers do not know exactly where he was hiding and he would come out, this is not voluntary surrender. Whether or not a warrant of arrest had been issued against the offender is immaterial and irrelevant. The criterion is whether or not the offender had gone into hiding or had the opportunity to go into hiding and the law enforcers
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do not know of his whereabouts. If he would give up, his act of surrendering under such circumstance indicates that he is willing to accept the consequences of the wrong he has done and also thereby saves the government the effort, the time and the expenses to be incurred in looking for him. Where the offender went to the municipal building not to own responsibility for the killing, such fact is not tantamount to voluntary surrender as a mitigating circumstance. Although he admitted his participation in the killing, he tried to avoid responsibility by claiming self-defense which however he was not able to prove. People v. Mindac, decided December 14, 1992. Surrender to be considered voluntary and thus mitigating, must be spontaneous, demonstrating an intent to submit himself unconditionally to the person in authority or his agent in authority, because (1) he acknowledges his guilt (2) he wishes to save the government the trouble and expenses of searching and capturing him. Where the reason for the surrender of the accused was to insure his safety, his arrest by policemen pursuing him being inevitable, the surrender is not spontaneous. Physical defect The physical defect that a person may have must have a relation to the commission of the crime. In a case where the offender is deaf and dumb, personal property was entrusted to him and he misappropriated the same. The crime committed was estafa. The fact that he was deaf and dumb is not mitigating because that does not bear any relation to the crime committed. Not any physical defect will affect the crime. It will only do so if it has some relation to the crime committed. If a person is deaf and dumb and he has been slandered, he cannot talk so what he did was, he got a piece of wood and struck the fellow on the head. The crime committed was physical injuries. The Supreme Court held that being a deaf and dumb is mitigating because the only way is to use his force because he cannot strike back. If the offender is blind in one eye, as long as his means of action, defense or communication with others are not restricted, such circumstance is not mitigating. This circumstance must also have a bearing on the crime committed and must depend on how the crime was committed. Analogous cases The act of the offender of leading the law enforcers to the place where he buried the instrument of the crime has been considered as equivalent to voluntary surrender. The act of a thief in leading the authorities to the place where he disposed of the loot has been considered as analogous or equivalent to voluntary surrender.
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Stealing by a person who is driven to do so out of extreme poverty is considered as analogous to incomplete state of necessity. However, this is not so where the offender became impoverished because of his own way of living his life. If his lifestyle is one of having so many vices, as a result of which he became poor, his subsequent stealing because of his poverty will not be considered mitigated by incomplete state of necessity. Aggravating circumstances (3) Kinds of aggravating circumstances: (1) (2) (3) (4) Generic or those that can generally apply to all crime; Specific or those that apply only to a particular crime; Qualifying or those that change the nature of the crime; Inherent or those that must of necessity accompany the commission of the crime. In qualifying circumstance (1)
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The circumstance affects the nature of the crime itself such that the offender shall be liable for a more serious crime. The circumstance is actually an ingredient of the crime; Being an ingredient of the crime, it cannot be offset by any mitigating circumstance; Qualifying circumstances to be appreciated as such must be specifically alleged in the complaint or information. If not alleged but proven during the trial, it will be considered only as generic aggravating circumstance. If this happens, they are susceptible of being offset by a mitigating circumstance.
(2)
An aggravating circumstance is qualifying when it is an ingredient of the crime. Therefore it is included in the provision of law defining the crime. If it is not so included, it is not qualifying. In Article 248, in the crime of murder, the law specifically mentions thereunder several circumstances which are aggravating under Article 14. All of these will qualify a killing from homicide to murder; however, you understand that only one is qualifying. If let us say, the accused was charged with murder. Three of these circumstances: treachery, evident premeditation and act was done in consideration of a price, reward or promise were alleged as aggravating. Only one of these is qualifying. If any one of the three circumstances was proven, the crime was already murder. If the other two are also proven, even if they are alleged in the information or complaint, they are only to be taken as generic. If there is any mitigating circumstance in favor of the offender, the two other circumstances which are otherwise qualifying could be offset by the mitigating, provided the mitigating circumstance is not a privileged mitigating circumstance. Therefore, if there are three of the qualifying circumstances alleged in the complaint or information, only one will qualify the crime. The others will merely be considered as generic. Thus, if there is any ordinary mitigating circumstance in favor of the accused, such will be wiped out by these circumstances, although initially they are considered as qualifying. Do not hesitate to offset on the principle that a qualifying circumstance cannot be offset by an ordinary mitigating circumstance because only one is necessary. Even if any of the qualifying circumstances under Article 248 on murder was proven, if that is not the circumstance alleged in the information, it cannot qualify the crime. Let us say, what was alleged in the information was treachery. During the trial, what was proven was the price, reward or promise as a consideration for killing. The treachery was not proved. Just the same, the accused cannot be convicted of murder because the circumstance proven is not qualifying but merely generic. It is generic because it is not alleged in the information at all. If any of these qualifying circumstances is not alleged in the
The aggravating circumstances must be established with moral certainty, with the same degree of proof required to establish the crime itself. Most important of the classification of aggravating circumstances are the qualifying and the generic aggravating circumstances. In practice, the so-called generic aggravating circumstances are referred to simply as aggravating circumstances. The so-called qualifying aggravating circumstances are simply referred to as qualifying circumstances. This is so because there is no qualifying circumstance that is not aggravating. To say qualifying aggravating circumstance is redundant. In the examination, if you find qualifying circumstances, you have to think about these as aggravating circumstances which are the ingredients of the crime. Distinctions between aggravating and qualifying circumstances: In aggravating circumstances (1) (2) The circumstance circumstance; can be offset by an ordinary mitigating
No need to allege this circumstance in the information, as long as it is proven during trial. If it is proved during trial, the court would consider the same in imposing the penalty; It is not an ingredient of a crime. It only affects the penalty to be imposed but the crime remains the same.
(3)
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information, it cannot be considered qualifying because a qualifying is an ingredient of the crime and it cannot be taken as such without having alleged in the information because it will violate the right of the accused to be informed of the nature of the accusation against him. Correlate Article 14 with Article 62. Article 62 gives you the different rules regarding aggravating circumstances. Aggravating circumstances will not be considered when it is the crime itself. If the crime charged is qualified trespass to dwelling, dwelling is no longer aggravating. When the aggravating circumstance refers to the material execution of the crime, like treachery, it will only aggravate the criminal liability of those who employed the same. Illustration: A person induced another to kill somebody. That fellow killed the other guy and employed treachery. As far as the killing is concerned, the treachery will qualify only the criminal liability of the actual executioner. The fellow who induced him becomes a co-principal and therefore, he is liable for the same crime committed. However, let us say, the fellow was hired to kill the parent of the one who hired him. He killed a stranger and not the parent. What was committed is different from what was agreed upon. The fellow who hired him will not be liable for the crime he had done because that was not the crime he was hired to commit. Taking advantage of public position Article 62 was also amended by the Republic Act No. 7659. The legal import of this amendment is that the subject circumstance has been made a qualifying or special aggravating that shall not be offset or compensated by a mitigating circumstance. If not alleged in the information, however, but proven during the trial, it is only appreciated as a generic aggravating circumstance. The mitigating circumstance referred to in the amendment as not affecting the imposition of the penalty in the maximum are only ordinary mitigating circumstances. Privileged mitigating circumstances always lower the penalty accordingly. Disrespect due to rank, age, sex Aggravating only in crimes against persons and honor, not against property like Robbery with homicide (People v. Ga, 156 SCRA 790). Teachers, professors, supervisors of public and duly recognized private schools, colleges and universities, as well as lawyers are persons in authority only for purposes of direct assault and simple resistance, but not for purposes of aggravating circumstances in paragraph 2, Article 14. (People v. Taoan, 182 SCRA 601).
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Abuse of confidence Do not confuse this with mere betrayal of trust. This is aggravating only when the very offended party is the one who reposed the confidence. If the confidence is reposed by another, the offended party is different from the fellow who reposed the confidence and abuse of confidence in this case is not aggravating. Illustrations: A mother left her young daughter with the accused because she had nobody to leave the child with while she had to go on an errand. The accused abused the child. It was held that the abuse of confidence is not aggravating. What is present is betrayal of trust and that is not aggravating. In a case where the offender is a servant, the offended party is one of the members of the family. The servant poisoned the child. It was held that abuse of confidence is aggravating. This is only true however, if the servant was still in the service of the family when he did the killing. If he was driven by the master already out of the house for some time and he came back and poisoned the child, abuse of confidence is no longer aggravating. The reason is because that confidence has already been terminated when the offender was driven out of the house.
Dwelling Dwelling will only be aggravating if it is the dwelling of the offended party. It should also not be the dwelling of the offender. If the dwelling is both that of the offended party and the offender, dwelling is not aggravating. Dwelling need not be owned by the offended party. It is enough that he used the place for his peace of mind, rest, comfort and privacy. The rule that dwelling, in order to be aggravating must be owned by the offended party is no longer absolute. Dwelling can be aggravating even if it is not owned by the offended party, provided that the offended party is considered a member of the family who owns the dwelling and equally enjoys peace of mind, privacy and comfort. Illustration: Husband and wife quarreled. Husband inflicted physical violence upon the wife. The wife left the conjugal home and went to the house of her sister bringing her personal belongings with her. The sister accommodated the wife in the formers home. The husband went to the house of the sister-in-law and tried to
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persuade the wife to come back to the conjugal home but the wife refused because she is more at peace in her sister's house than in the conjugal abode. Due to the wife's refusal to go back to the conjugal home and live with the husband, the husband pulled out a knife and stabbed the wife which caused her death. It was held that dwelling was aggravating although it is not owned by the offended party because the offended party is considered as a member of the family who owns the dwelling and that dwelling is where she enjoyed privacy. Peace of mind and comfort. Even a room in a hotel if rented as a dwelling, like what the salesmen do when they are assigned in the provinces and they rent rooms, is considered a dwelling. A room in a hotel or motel will be considered dwelling if it is used with a certain degree of permanence, where the offended party seeks privacy, rest, peace of mind and comfort. If a young man brought a woman in a motel for a short time and there he was killed, dwelling is not aggravating. A man was killed in the house of his common law wife. Dwelling is aggravating in this case because the house was provided by the man. Dwelling should not be understood in the concept of a domicile. A person has more than one dwelling. So, if a man has so many wives and he gave them a places of their own, each one is his own dwelling. If he is killed there, dwelling will be aggravating, provided that he also stays there once in a while. When he is only a visitor there, dwelling is not aggravating. The crime of adultery was committed. Dwelling was considered aggravating on the part of the paramour. The paramour is not a resident of the same dwelling. However, if the paramour was also residing on the same dwelling, dwelling is not considered aggravating. The term dwelling includes all the dependencies necessary for a house or for rest or for comfort or a place of privacy. If the place used is on the second floor, the stairs which are used to reach the second floor is considered a dwelling because the second floor cannot be enjoyed without the stairs. If the offended party was assaulted while on the stairs, dwelling is already aggravating. For this reason, considering that any dependency necessary for the enjoyment of a place of abode is considered a dwelling. Illustrations: A and B are living in one house. A occupies the ground floor while B the upper floor. The stairs here would form part only of B's dwelling, the same being necessary and an integral part of his house or dwelling. Hence, when an attack is made while A is on the stairs, the aggravating circumstance of dwelling is not present. If the attack is made while B was on the stairs, then the aggravating circumstance of dwelling is present.
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Whenever one is in his dwelling, the law is presuming that he is not intending to commit a wrong so one who attacks him while in the tranquility of his home shows a degree of perversity in him. Hence, this aggravating circumstance. Dwelling is not limited to the house proper. All the appurtenances necessary for the peace and comfort, rest and peace of mind in the abode of the offended party is considered a dwelling. Illustrations: A man was fixing something on the roof of his house when he was shot. It was held that dwelling is aggravating. Roof still part of the house. In the provinces where the comfort rooms are usually far from the house proper, if the offended party while answering the call of nature is killed, then dwelling is aggravating because the comfort room is a necessary dependency of the house proper. A person while in the room of his house, maintaining the room, was shot. Dwelling is aggravating. If the offender entered the house and the offended party jumped out of the house, even if the offender caught up with him already out of the house, dwelling is still aggravating. The reason is because he could not have left his dwelling were it not for the fact that the attacker entered the house. If the offended party was inside the house and the offender was outside and the latter shot the former inside the house while he was still outside. Dwelling is still aggravating even if the offender did not enter the house. A garage is part of the dwelling when connected with an interior passage to the house proper. If not connected, it is not considered part of the dwelling. One-half of the house is used as a store and the other half is used for dwelling but there is only one entrance. If the dwelling portion is attacked, dwelling is not aggravating because whenever a store is open for business, it is a public place and as such is not capable of being the subject of trespass. If the dwelling portion is attacked where even if the store is open, there is another separate entrance to the portion used for dwelling, the circumstance is aggravating. However, in case the store is closed, dwelling is aggravating since here, the store is not a public place as in the first case. Balcony is part of the dwelling because it is appurtenant to the house Dwelling is aggravating in robbery with homicide because the crime can be committed without necessarily transgressing the sanctity of the home (People v. De Los Reyes, decided October 22, 1992).
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Dwelling is aggravating where the place is, even for a brief moment, a home, although he is not the owner thereof as when victim was shot in the house of his parents. Band In band, there should at least be four persons. All of them should be armed. Even if there are four, but only three or less are armed, it is not a band. Whenever you talk of band, always have in mind four at least. Do not say three or more because it is four or more. The way the law defines a band is somewhat confusing because it refers simply to more than 3, when actually it should be 4 or more. Correlate this with Article 306 - Brigandage. The crime is the band itself. The mere forming of a band even without the commission of a crime is already a crime so that band is not aggravating in brigandage because the band itself is the way to commit brigandage. However, where brigandage is actually committed, band becomes aggravating. Uninhabited place It is determined not by the distance of the nearest house to the scene of the crime but whether or not in the place of the commission of the offense , there was a reasonable possibility of the victim receiving some help. Illustration: A is on board a banca, not so far away. B and C also are on board on their respective bancas. Suddenly, D showed up from underwater and stabbed B. Is there an aggravating circumstance of uninhabited place here? Yes, considering the fact that A and C before being able to give assistance still have to jump into the water and swim towards B and the time it would take them to do that, the chances of B receiving some help was very little, despite the fact that there were other persons not so far from the scene. Evidence tending to prove that the offender took advantage of the place and purposely availed of it is to make it easier to commit the crime, shall be necessary. Nighttime What if the crime started during the daytime and continued all the way to nighttime? This is not aggravating. Illustration:
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As a rule, the crime must begin and end during the nighttime. Crime began at day and ended at night, as well as crime began at night and ended at day is not aggravated by the circumstance of nighttime. Darkness is what makes this circumstance aggravating.
One evening, a crime was committed near the lamp post. The Supreme Court held that there is no aggravating circumstance of nighttime. Even if the crime was committed at night, but there was light, hence, darkness was not present, no aggravating circumstance just by the fact of nighttime alone. Even if there was darkness but the nighttime was only an incident of a chance meeting, there is no aggravating circumstance here. It must be shown that the offender deliberately sought the cover of darkness and the offender purposely took advantage of nighttime to facilitate the commission of the offense. Nocturnity is the period of time after sunset to sunrise, from dusk to dawn. Different forms of repetition or habituality of the offender (1) Recidivism under Article 14 (9) The offender at the time of his trial for one crime shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of another embraced in the same title of the Revised Penal Code. Repetition or reiteracion under Article 14 (10) The offender has been previously punished for an offense which the law attaches an equal or greater penalty or for two or more crimes to which it attaches a lighter penalty. Habitual delinquency under Article 62 (5) The offender within the period of 10 years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical injuries, robo, hurto, estafa or falsification, is found guilty of the any of said crimes a third time or oftener. Quasi-recidivism under Article 160 Any person who shall commit a felony after having been convicted by final judgment before beginning to serve such sentence or while serving such sentence shall be punished by the maximum period prescribed by law for the new felony.
(2)
(3)
(4)
Distinctions between recidivism and habitual delinquency In recidivism
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(1) (2) (3) (4) Two convictions are enough. Illustration: The crimes are not specified; it is enough that they may be embraced under the same title of the Revised Penal Code. There is no time limit between the first conviction and the subsequent conviction. Recidivism is imprescriptible. It is a generic aggravating circumstance which can be offset by an ordinary mitigating circumstance. If not offset, it would only increase the penalty prescribed by law for the crime committed to its maximum period. The circumstance need not be alleged in the information.
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In 1980, A committed robbery. While the case was being tried, he committed theft in 1983. He was found guilty and was convicted of theft also in 1983. The conviction became final because he did not appeal anymore and the trial for his earlier crime which was robbery ended in 1984 where he was also convicted. He also did not appeal this decision. Is the accused a recidivist? The subsequent conviction must refer to a felony committed later in order to constitute recidivism. The reason for this is as the time the first crime was committed, there was no other crime of which he was convicted so he cannot be regarded as a repeater. In recidivism, the crimes committed should be felonies. Recidivism cannot be had if the crime committed is a violation of a special law. Recidivism does not prescribe. No matter how long ago the offender was convicted, if he is subsequently convicted of a crime embraced in the same title of the Revised Penal Code, it is taken into account as aggravating in imposing the penalty. Pardon does not erase recidivism, even if it is absolute because only excuses the service of the penalty, but not the conviction. If the offender has already served his sentence and he was extended an absolute pardon, the pardon shall erase the conviction including recidivism because there is no more penalty so it shall be understood as referring to the conviction or the effects of the crime. Recidivism may be considered even though not alleged in the information because this is only a generic aggravating circumstance. It is necessary to allege recidivism in the information, but if the defense does not object to the presentation of evidence during the trial and the same was proven, the court shall consider such aggravating circumstance because it is only generic. In recidivism, although the law defines it as a circumstance where a person having been convicted by final judgement was previously convicted also by final judgement for a crime embraced in the same title in the Revised Penal Code, it is necessary that the conviction must come in the order in which they are committed. Question & Answer In 1975, the offender committed robbery. While the same was being tried in 1978, he committed theft. In 1980, he was convicted of theft and he did not appeal this decision. The trial for robbery ended in 1981. May the judge
(5)
In habitual delinquency (1) (2) At least three convictions are required. The crimes are limited and specified to: (a) serious physical injuries, (b) less serious physical injuries, (c) robbery, (d) theft, (e) estafa or swindling and (f) falsification. There is a time limit of not more than 10 years between every convictions computed from the first conviction or release from punishment thereof to conviction computed from the second conviction or release therefrom to the third conviction and so on . . . Habitual delinquency is a special aggravating circumstance, hence it cannot be offset by any mitigating circumstance. Aside from the penalty prescribed by law for the crime committed, an additional penalty shall be imposed depending upon whether it is already the third conviction, the fourth, the fifth and so on . . . The circumstance must be alleged in the information; otherwise the court cannot acquire jurisdiction to impose additional penalty.
(3)
(4)
(5)
Recidivism In recidivism, the emphasis is on the fact that the offender was previously convicted by final judgement of a felony and subsequently found guilty of another felony embraced in the same title of the Revised Penal Code. The law considers this aggravating when a person has been committing felonies embraced in the same title because the implication is that he is specializing on such kind of crime and the law wants to prevent any specialization. Hence, ordinarily, when a person commits a crime under different titles, no aggravating circumstance is present. It is important that the conviction which came earlier must refer to the crime committed earlier than the subsequent conviction.
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in imposing the penalty for robbery consider the accused a recidivist considering that he was already convicted in 1980 for the crime of theft which is under the same title of the Revised Penal Code as that of robbery? No, because the robbery which was committed earlier would be decided later. It must be the other way around. This is because in 1975 when he committed the robbery, there was no crime committed yet. Thus, even though in imposing the penalty for the robbery, there was already a previous conviction, if that conviction is subsequent to the commission of the robbery, he is not a recidivist. If you will interpret the definition of recidivism, this would seem to be covered but that is not so. Habitual delinquency We have to consider the crimes in it and take note of the titles of crimes in the Revised Penal Code. If the offender had committed and was convicted of each of the crimes under each category so that no two crimes fall under the same title of the Revised Penal Code, you have a situation where the offender is a habitual delinquent but not a recidivist because no two crimes fall under the same title of the Code. If the first conviction is for serious physical injuries or less serious physical injuries and the second conviction is for robbery, theft or estafa and the third is for falsification, then the moment the habitual delinquent is on his fourth conviction already, you cannot avoid that he is a habitual delinquent and at the same time a recidivist because at least, the fourth time will have to fall under any of the three categories. When the offender is a recidivist and at the same time a habitual delinquent, the penalty for the crime for which he will be convicted will be increased to the maximum period unless offset by a mitigating circumstance. After determining the correct penalty for the last crime committed, an added penalty will be imposed in accordance with Article 62. Habitual delinquency, being a special or specific aggravating circumstance must be alleged in the information. If it is not alleged in the information and in the course of the trial, the prosecution tried to prove that the offender is a habitual delinquent over the objection of the accused, the court has no jurisdiction to consider the offender a habitual delinquent. Even if the accused is in fact a habitual delinquent but it is not alleged in the information, the prosecution when introducing evidence was objected to, the court cannot admit the evidence presented to prove habitual delinquency over the objection of the accused. On the other hand, recidivism is a generic aggravating circumstance. It need not be alleged in the information. Thus, even if recidivism is not alleged in the information, if proven during trial, the court can appreciate the same. If the
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prosecution tried to prove recidivism and the defense objected, the objection should be overruled. The reason is recidivism is a generic aggravating circumstance only. As such, it does not have to be alleged in the information because even if not alleged, if proven during trial, the trial court can appreciate it. Right now, the present rule is that it can be appreciated even if not alleged in the information. This is the correct view because recidivism is a generic aggravating circumstance. The reason why habitual delinquency cannot be appreciated unless alleged in the information is because recidivism has nothing to do with the crime committed. Habitual delinquency refers to prior conviction and therefore this must be brought in the information before the court can acquire jurisdiction over this matter. Generally, the procedure you know that when the prosecutor alleges habitual delinquency, it must specify the crimes committed, the dates when they were committed, the court which tried the case, the date when the accused was convicted or discharged. If these are not alleged, the information is defective. However, in a relatively recent ruling of the Supreme Court, it was held that even though the details of habitual delinquency was not set forth in the information, as long as there is an allegation there that the accused is a habitual delinquent, that is enough to confer jurisdiction upon the court to consider habitual delinquency. In the absence of the details set forth in the information, the accused has the right to avail of the so-called bill of particulars. Even in a criminal case, the accused may file a motion for bill of particulars. If the accused fails to file such, he is deemed to have waived the required particulars and so the court can admit evidence of the habitual delinquency, even though over and above the objection of the defense. Reiteracion This has nothing to do with the classification of the felonies. In reiteracion, the offender has already tasted the bitterness of the punishment. This is the philosophy on which the circumstance becomes aggravating. It is necessary in order that there be reiteracion that the offender has already served out the penalty. If the offender had not yet served out his penalty, forget about reiteracion. That means he has not yet tasted the bitterness of life but if he had already served out the penalty, the law expects that since he has already tasted punishment, he will more or less refrain from committing crimes again. That is why if the offender committed a subsequent felony which carries with it a penalty lighter than what he had served, reiteracion is not aggravating because the law considers that somehow, this fellow was corrected because instead of committing a serious crime, he committed a lesser one. If he committed another lesser one, then he becomes a repeater.
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So, in reiteracion, the penalty attached to the crime subsequently committed should be higher or at least equal to the penalty that he has already served. If that is the situation, that means that the offender was never reformed by the fact that he already served the penalty imposed on him on the first conviction. However, if he commits a felony carrying a lighter penalty; subsequently, the law considers that somehow he has been reformed but if he, again commits another felony which carries a lighter penalty, then he becomes a repeater because that means he has not yet reformed. You will only consider the penalty in reiteracion if there is already a second conviction. When there is a third conviction, you disregard whatever penalty for the subsequent crimes committed. Even if the penalty for the subsequent crimes committed are lighter than the ones already served, since there are already two of them subsequently, the offender is already a repeater. However, if there is only a second conviction, pay attention to the penalty attached to the crime which was committed for the second crime. That is why it is said that reiteracion is not always aggravating. This is so because if the penalty attached to the felony subsequently committed is not equal or higher than the penalty already served, even if literally, the offender is a repeater, repetition is not aggravating. Quasi-recidivism This is found in Article 160. The offender must already be convicted by final judgement and therefore to have served the penalty already, but even at this stage, he committed a felony before beginning to serve sentence or while serving sentence. Illustration: Offender had already been convicted by final judgement. Sentence was promulgated and he was under custody in Muntinlupa. While he was in Muntinlupa, he escaped from his guard and in the course of his escape, he killed someone. The killing was committed before serving sentence but convicted by final judgement. He becomes a quasi-recidivist because the crime committed was a felony. The emphasis here is on the crime committed before sentence or while serving sentence which should be a felony, a violation of the Revised Penal Code. In so far as the earlier crime is concerned, it is necessary that it be a felony. Illustration: The offender was convicted of homicide. While serving sentence in Muntinlupa, he was found smoking marijuana. He was prosecuted for illegal use of prohibited drugs and was convicted. Is he a quasi-recidivist? No, because the crime committed while serving sentence is not a felony.
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Reverse the situation. Assume that the offender was found guilty of illegal use of prohibited drugs. While he was serving sentence, he got involved in a quarrel and killed a fellow inmate. Is he a quasi-recidivist? Yes, because while serving sentence, he committed a felony. The emphasis is on the nature of the crime committed while serving sentence or before serving sentence. It should not be a violation of a special law. Quasi-recidivism is a special aggravating circumstance. This cannot be offset by any mitigating circumstance and the imposition of the penalty in the maximum period cannot be lowered by any ordinary mitigating circumstance. When there is a privileged mitigating circumstance, the penalty prescribed by law for the crime committed shall be lowered by 1 or 2 degrees, as the case may be, but then it shall be imposed in the maximum period if the offender is a quasirecidivist.
In consideration of a price, reward or promise The Supreme Court rulings before indicate that this circumstance aggravates only the criminal liability of the person who committed the crime in consideration of the price, promise, or reward but not the criminal liability of the person who gave the price, reward or consideration. However, when there is a promise, reward or price offered or given as a consideration for the commission of the crime, the person making the offer is an inducer, a principal by inducement while the person receiving the price, reward or promise who would execute the crime is a principal by direct participation. Hence, their responsibilities are the same. They are both principals and that is why the recent rulings of the Supreme Court are to the effect that this aggravating circumstance affects or aggravates not only the criminal liability of the receiver of the price, reward or promise but also the criminal liability of the one giving the offer. By means of inundation or fire Fire is not aggravating in the crime of arson. Whenever a killing is done with the use of fire, as when to kill someone, you burn down his house while the latter is inside, this is murder. There is no such crime as murder with arson or arson with homicide. The crime committed is only murder. If the victim is already dead and the house is burned, the crime is arson. It is either arson or murder.
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If the intent is to destroy property, the crime is arson even if someone dies as a consequence. If the intent is to kill, there is murder even if the house is burned in the process. Illustration: A and B were arguing about something. One argument led to another until A struck B to death with a bolo. A did not know that C, the son of B was also in their house and who was peeping through the door and saw what A did. Afraid that A might kill him, too, he hid somewhere in the house. A then dragged B's body and poured gasoline on it and burned the house altogether. As a consequence, C was burned and eventually died too. As far as the killing of B is concerned, it is homicide since it is noted that they were arguing. It could not be murder. As far as the killing of C is concerned, the crime is arson since he intended to burn the house only. No such crime as arson with homicide. Law enforcers only use this to indicate that a killing occurred while arson was being committed. At the most, you could designate it as death as a consequence of arson. Evident premeditation For evident premeditation to be aggravating, the following conditions must concur: (1) (2) (3) The time when the accused determined to commit the crime; An act manifestly indicating that the accused has clung to his determination; Sufficient lapse of time between such determination and execution, to allow him to reflect upon the consequences of his act.
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Illustrations: A and B fought. A told B that someday he will kill B. On Friday, A killed B. A and B fought on Monday but since A already suffered so many blows, he told B, "This week shall not pass, I will kill you." On Friday, A killed B. Is there evident premeditation in both cases? None in both cases. What condition is missing to bring about evident premeditation? Evidence to show that between Monday and Friday, the offender clung to his determination to kill the victim, acts indicative of his having clung to his determination to kill B. A and B had a quarrel. A boxed B. A told B, "I will kill you this week." A bought firearms. On Friday, he waited for B but killed C instead. Is there evident premeditation? There is aberratio ictus. So, qualify. Insofar as B is concerned, the crime is attempted murder because there is evident premeditation. However, that murder cannot be considered for C. Insofar as C is concerned, the crime is homicide because there was no evident premeditation. Evident premeditation shall not be considered when the crime refers to a different person other than the person premeditated against. While it is true that evident premeditation may be absorbed in treachery because the means, method and form of attack may be premeditated and would be resorted to by the offender. Do not consider both aggravating circumstances of treachery and evident premeditation against the offender. It is only treachery because the evident premeditation is the very conscious act of the offender to ensure the execution. But there may be evident premeditation and there is treachery also when the attack was so sudden. A and B are enemies. They fought on Monday and parted ways. A decided to seek revenge. He bought a firearm and practiced shooting and then sought B. When A saw B in the restaurant with so many people, A did not dare fire at B for fear that he might hit a stranger but instead, A saw a knife and used it to stab B with all suddenness. Evident premeditation was not absorbed in treachery because treachery refers to the manner of committing the crime. Evident premeditation is always absorbed in treachery. This is one aggravating circumstance where the offender who premeditated, the law says evident. It is not enough that there is some premeditation. Premeditation must be clear. It is required that there be evidence showing meditation between the time when the offender determined to commit the crime and the time when the offender executed the act. It must appear that the offender clung to his determination to commit the crime. The fact that the offender premeditated is not prima facie indicative of evident premeditation as the meeting or encounter between the offender and the offended party was only by chance or accident.
Illustration: A, on Monday, thought of killing B on Friday. A knew that B is coming home only on Friday so A decided to kill B on Friday evening when he comes home. On Thursday, A met B and killed him. Is there evident premeditation? None but there is treachery as the attack was sudden. Can there be evident premeditation when the killing is accidental? No. In evident premeditation, there must be a clear reflection on the part of the offender. However, if the killing was accidental, there was no evident premeditation. What is necessary to show and to bring about evident premeditation aside from showing that as some prior time, the offender has manifested the intention to kill the victim, and subsequently killed the victim.
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In order for evident premeditation to be considered, the very person/offended party premeditated against must be the one who is the victim of the crime. It is not necessary that the victim is identified. It is enough that the victim is determined so he or she belongs to a group or class who may be premeditated against. This is a circumstance that will qualify a killing from homicide to murder. Illustration: A person who has been courting a lady for several years now has been jilted. Because of this, he thought of killing somebody. He, then bought a knife, sharpened it and stabbed the first man he met on the street. It was held that evident premeditation is not present. It is essential for this aggravating circumstance for the victim to be identified from the beginning. A premeditated to kill any member of particular fraternity. He then killed one. This is murder a homicide which has been qualified into murder by evident premeditation which is a qualifying circumstance. Same where A planned to kill any member of the Iglesio ni Kristo. There are some crimes which cannot be aggravated by evident premeditation because they require some planning before they can be committed. Evident premeditation is part of the crime like kidnapping for ransom, robbery with force upon things where there is entry into the premises of the offended party, and estafa through false pretenses where the offender employs insidious means which cannot happen accidentally. Craft Aggravating in a case where the offenders pretended to be bona fide passengers of a jeepney in order not to arouse suspicion, but once inside the jeepney, robbed the passengers and the driver (People v. Lee, decided on December 20, 1991). Abuse of superior strength There must be evidence of notorious inequality of forces between the offender and the offended party in their age, size and strength, and that the offender took advantage of such superior strength in committing the crime. The mere fact that there were two persons who attacked the victim does not per se constitute abuse of superior strength (People v. Carpio, 191 SCRA 12). Treachery Treachery refers to the employment of means, method and form in the commission of the crime which tend directly and specially to insure its
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execution without risk to himself arising from the defense which the offended party might make. The means, method or form employed my be an aggravating circumstance which like availing of total darkness in nighttime or availing of superior strength taken advantage of by the offender, employing means to weaken the defense. Illustration: A and B have been quarreling for some time. One day, A approached B and befriended him. B accepted. A proposed that to celebrate their renewed friendship, they were going to drink. B was having too much to drink. A was just waiting for him to get intoxicated and after which, he stabbed B. A pretended to befriend B, just to intoxicate the latter. Intoxication is the means deliberately employed by the offender to weaken the defense of the offended party. If this was the very means employed, the circumstance may be treachery and not abuse of superior strength or means to weaken the defense. What is the essence of treachery? The essence of treachery is that by virtue of the means, method or form employed by the offender, the offended party was not able to put up any defense. If the offended party was able to put up a defense, even only a token one, there is no treachery anymore. Instead some other aggravating circumstance may be present but not treachery anymore. Illustration: A and B quarreled. However A had no chance to fight with B because A is much smaller than B. A thought of killing B but then he cannot just attack B because of the latter's size. So, A thought of committing a crime at nighttime with the cover of darkness. A positioned himself in the darkest part of the street where B passes on his way home. One evening, A waited for B and stabbed B. However, B pulled a knife as well and stabbed A also. A was wounded but not mortal so he managed to run away. B was able to walk a few steps before he fell and died. What crime was committed? The crime is only homicide because the aggravating circumstance is only nocturnity and nocturnity is not a qualifying circumstance. The reason why treachery cannot be considered as present here is because the offended party was able to put up a defense and that negates treachery. In treachery, the offended party, due to the means, method or form employed by the offender, the offended party was denied the chance to defend himself. If because of the cover of darkness, B was not able to put up a defense and A was able to flee while B died, the crime is murder because there is already treachery. In the first situation, the crime was homicide only, the nighttime is generic aggravating circumstance.
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In the example where A pretended to befriend B and invited him to celebrate their friendship, if B despite intoxication was able to put up some fight against A but eventually, B died, then the attendant circumstance is no longer treachery but means employed to weaken the defense. But in murder, this is also a qualifying circumstance. The crime committed is murder but then the correct circumstance is not treachery but means employed to weaken the defense. In the same manner, if the offender avails of the services of men and in the commission of the crime, they took advantage of superior strength but somehow, the offended party fought back, the crime is still murder if the victim is killed. Although the qualifying circumstance is abuse of superior strength and not treachery, which is also a qualifying circumstance of murder under Article 248. Treachery is out when the attack was merely incidental or accidental because in the definition of treachery, the implication is that the offender had consciously and deliberately adopted the method, means and form used or employed by him. So, if A and B casually met and there and then A stabbed B, although stabbing may be sudden since A was not shown to have the intention of killing B, treachery cannot be considered present. There must be evidenced on how the crime was committed. It is not enough to show that the victim sustained treacherous wound. Example: A had a gunshot wound at the back of his head. The SC ruled this is only homicide because treachery must be proven. It must be shown that the victim was totally defenseless. Suddenness of the attack does not by itself constitute treachery in the absence of evidence that the manner of the attack was consciously adopted by the offender to render the offended party defenseless (People v. Ilagan, 191 SCRA 643). But where children of tender years were killed, being one year old and 12 years old, the killing is murder even if the manner of attack was not shown (People v. Gahon, decided on April 30, 1991). In People v. Lapan, decided on July 6, 1992, the accused was prosecuted for robbery with homicide. Robbery was not proven beyond reasonable doubt. Accused held liable only for the killings. Although one of the victims was barely six years old, the accused was convicted only for homicide, aggravated by dwelling and in disregard of age. Treachery not appreciated where quarrel and heated discussion preceded a killing, because the victim would be put on guard (People v. Gupo). But although a quarrel preceded the killing where the victim was atop a coconut tree, treachery was considered as the victim was not in a position to defend himself (People v. Toribio).
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Distinction between ignominy and cruelty Ignominy shocks the moral conscience of man while cruelty is physical. Ignominy refers to the moral effect of a crime and it pertains to the moral order, whether or not the victim is dead or alive. Cruelty pertains to physical suffering of the victim so the victim has to be alive. In plain language, ignominy is adding insult to injury. A clear example is a married woman being raped before the eyes of her husband. In a case where the crime committed is rape and the accused abused the victims from behind, the Supreme Court considered the crime as aggravated by ignominy. Hence, raping a woman from behind is ignominous because this is not the usual intercourse, it is something which offends the moral of the offended woman. This is how animals do it. In a case of homicide, while the victim after having been killed by the offender, the offender shoved the body inside a canal, ignominy is held aggravating. After having been killed, the body was thrown into pile of garbage, ignominy is aggravating. The Supreme Court held that it added shame to the natural effects of the crime. Cruelty and ignominy are circumstances brought about which are not necessary in the commission of the crime. Illustration: A and B are enemies. A upon seeing B pulled out a knife and stabbed B 60 times. Will that fact be considered as an aggravating circumstance of cruelty? No, there is cruelty only when there are evidence that the offender inflicted the stab wounds while enjoying or delighted to see the victim in pain. For cruelty to exist as an aggravating circumstance, there must be evidence showing that the accused inflicted the alleged cruel wounds slowly and gradually and that he is delighted seeing the victim suffer in pain. In the absence of evidence to this effect, there is no cruelty. Sixty stab wounds do not ipso facto make them aggravating circumstances of cruelty. The crime is murder if 60 wounds were inflicted gradually; absence of this evidence means the crime committed is only homicide. Cruelty is aggravating in rape where the offender tied the victim to a bed and burnt her face with a lighted cigarette while raping her laughing all the way (People v. Lucas, 181 SCRA 315). Unlawful entry
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Unlawful entry is inherent in the crime of robbery with force upon things but aggravating in the crime of robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons. Motor vehicle The Supreme Court considers strictly the use of the word committed, that the crime is committed with the use of a motor vehicle, motorized means of transportation or motorized watercraft. There is a decision by the Court of Appeals that a motorized bicycle is a motor vehicle even if the offender used only the foot pedal because he does not know how to operate the motor so if a bicycle is used in the commission of the crime, motor vehicle becomes aggravating if the bicycle is motorized. This circumstance is aggravating only when used in the commission of the offense. If motor vehicle is used only in the escape of the offender, motor vehicle is not aggravating. To be aggravating, it must have been used to facilitate the commission of the crime. Aggravating when a motorized tricycle was used to commit the crime Organized or syndicated crime group In the same amendment to Article 62 of the Revised Penal Code, paragraphs were added which provide that the maximum penalty shall be imposed if the offense was committed by any person who belongs to an organized or syndicated crime group. An organized or syndicated crime group means a group of two or more persons collaborating, confederating or mutually helping one another for purposes of gain in the commission of a crime. With this provision, the circumstance of an organized or syndicated crime group having committed the crime has been added in the Code as a special aggravating circumstance. The circumstance being special or qualifying, it must be alleged in the information and proved during the trial. Otherwise, if not alleged in the information, even though proven during the trial, the court cannot validly consider the circumstances because it is not among those enumerated under Article 14 of the Code as aggravating. It is noteworthy, however, that there is an organized or syndicated group even when only two persons collaborated, confederated, or mutually helped one another in the commission of a crime, which acts are inherent in a conspiracy. Where therefore, conspiracy in the commission of the crime is alleged in the information, the allegation may be considered as procedurally sufficient to warrant receiving evidence on the matter during trial and consequently, the said special aggravating circumstance can be appreciated if proven. (1) (2) (3) (4) Relationship; Intoxication; Degree of instruction; and Education.
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Alternative circumstances Four alternative circumstances
Use only the term alternative circumstance for as long as the particular circumstance is not involved in any case or problem. The moment it is given in a problem, do not use alternative circumstance, refer to it as aggravating or mitigating depending on whether the same is considered as such or the other. If relationship is aggravating, refer to it as aggravating. If mitigating, then refer to it as such. Except for the circumstance of intoxication, the other circumstances in Article 15 may not be taken into account at all when the circumstance has no bearing on the crime committed. So the court will not consider this as aggravating or mitigating simply because the circumstance has no relevance to the crime that was committed. Do not think that because the article says that these circumstances are mitigating or aggravating, that if the circumstance is present, the court will have to take it as mitigating, if not mitigating, aggravating. That is wrong. It is only the circumstance of intoxication which if not mitigating, is automatically aggravating. But the other circumstances, even if they are present, but if they do not influence the crime, the court will not consider it at all. Relationship may not be considered at all, especially if it is not inherent in the commission of the crime. Degree of instruction also will not be considered if the crime is something which does not require an educated person to understand. Relationship Relationship is not simply mitigating or aggravating. There are specific circumstances where relationship is exempting. Among such circumstances are: (1) (2) In the case of an accessory who is related to the principal within the relationship prescribed in Article 20; Also in Article 247, a spouse does not incur criminal liability for a crime of less serious physical injuries or serious physical injuries if this was
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inflicted after having surprised the offended spouse or paramour or mistress committing actual sexual intercourse. (3) Those commonly given in Article 332 when the crime of theft, malicious mischief and swindling or estafa. There is no criminal liability but only civil liability if the offender is related to the offended party as spouse, ascendant, or descendant or if the offender is a brother or sister or brother in law or sister in law of the offended party and they are living together. Exempting circumstance is the relationship. This is an absolutory cause.
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Sometimes, relationship is a qualifying and not only a generic aggravating circumstance. In the crime of qualified seduction, the offended woman must be a virgin and less than 18 yrs old. But if the offender is a brother of the offended woman or an ascendant of the offended woman, regardless of whether the woman is of bad reputation, even if the woman is 60 years old or more, crime is qualified seduction. In such a case, relationship is qualifying. Intoxication This circumstance is ipso facto mitigating, so that if the prosecution wants to deny the offender the benefit of this mitigation, they should prove that it is habitual and that it is intentional. The moment it is shown to be habitual or intentional to the commission of the crime, the same will immediately aggravate, regardless of the crime committed. Intoxication to be considered mitigating, requires that the offender has reached that degree of intoxication where he has no control of himself anymore. The idea is the offender, because of the intoxication is already acting under diminished self control. This is the rational why intoxication is mitigating. So if this reason is not present, intoxication will not be considered mitigating. So the mere fact that the offender has taken one or more cases of beer of itself does not warrant a conclusion that intoxication is mitigating. There must be indication that because of the alcoholic intake of the offender, he is suffering from diminished self control. There is diminished voluntariness insofar as his intelligence or freedom of action is concerned. It is not the quantity of alcoholic drink. Rather it is the effect of the alcohol upon the offender which shall be the basis of the mitigating circumstance. Illustration: In a case, there were two laborers who were the best of friends. Since it was payday, they decided to have some good time and ordered beer. When they drank two cases of beer they became more talkative until they engaged in an argument. One pulled out a knife and stabbed the other. When arraigned he invoked intoxication as a mitigating circumstance. Intoxication does not simply mean that the offender has partaken of so much alcoholic beverages. The intoxication in law requires that because of the quality of the alcoholic drink
taken, the offender had practically lost self control. So although the offender may have partaken of two cases of beer, but after stabbing the victim he hailed a tricycle and even instructed the driver to the place where he is sleeping and the tricycle could not reach his house and so he has to alight and walk to his house, then there is no diminished self control. The Supreme Court did not give the mitigating circumstance because of the number of wounds inflicted upon the victim. There were 11 stab wounds and this, the Supreme Court said, is incompatible with the idea that the offender is already suffering from diminished self control. On the contrary, the indication is that the offender gained strength out of the drinks he had taken. It is not the quantity of drink that will determine whether the offender can legally invoke intoxication. The conduct of the offender, the manner of committing the crime, his behavior after committing the crime must show the behavior of a man who has already lost control of himself. Otherwise intoxication cannot legally be considered. Degree of instruction and education These are two distinct circumstances. One may not have any degree of instruction but is nevertheless educated. Example: A has been living with professionals for sometime. He may just be a maid in the house with no degree of instruction but he may still be educated. It may happen also that the offender grew up in a family of professionals, only he is the black sheep because he did not want to go to school. But it does not follow that he is bereft of education. If the offender did not go higher than Grade 3 and he was involved in a felony, he was invoking lack of degree of education. The Supreme Court held that although he did not receive schooling, yet it cannot be said that he lacks education because he came from a family where brothers are all professionals. So he understands what is right and wrong. The fact that the offender did not have schooling and is illiterate does not mitigate his liability if the crime committed is one which he inherently understands as wrong such as parricide. If a child or son or daughter would kill a parent, illiteracy will not mitigate because the low degree of instruction has no bearing on the crime. In the same manner, the offender may be a lawyer who committed rape. The fact that he has knowledge of the law will not aggravate his liability, because his knowledge has nothing to do with the commission of the crime. But if he committed falsification, that will aggravate his criminal liability, where he used his special knowledge as a lawyer.
CASES FOR JUSTIFYING, MITGATING AND AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES
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HONOR, EVEN IF INTRUDER DID NOT REPLY WHEN ASKED WHO HE WAS
I.
SELF-DEFENSE (PROPIA DEFENSA). PEOPLE vs. APEGO Keyword: Paranoid sister, couple coming from Nasugbu, husband stabbed at the vital organ by the sister with fan knife and TIN CANS. Issue: W/N the defendant can plead complete self-defense. Decision: When a sleeping woman is awakened at night by some one touching her or grasping her arm, and she, believing that some person is attempting to abuse her asks who the intruder is and receives no reply, attacks the said person with a pocketknife, and the nature of the wound shows that she was either standing up or sitting up at the time, it is concluded that, notwithstanding the woman's belief in the supposed attempt, there was not sufficient provocation to justify her in using a deadly weapon; although she actually believed it to be the beginning of an attempt against her, she was not warranted in making such a deadly assault, as the injured person did not insist or repeat any act which could be considered as an attempt against her honor. The accused exceeded her right of self-defense since there was really no need of wounding the victim. There was no reasonable cause for striking a blow in the center of the body where the vital parts are located. Thus, in the commission of the crime, there was present the circumstance of incomplete exemption from responsibility since the second requisite is missing. KILLING OF PARAMOUR NOT ATTRIBUTABLE TO ATTEMPT TO RAPE ACCUSED WHO MAINTAINED ILLICIT RELATION WITH VICTIM FOR SOME TIME PEOPLE vs. POTESTAS Keywords: Woman kills her paramour who was not her live-in partner saying that the latter tried to rape her. Issue: W/N the woman can plead self-defense considering that the man seems to be asleep when he was killed. Decision: When it is proven that the deceased had for some time maintained illicit relations with the accused, being accustomed to pass the night in her house, it cannot be believed that it was necessary for him to resort to violence, and therefore a statement alleging such violence is improbable and inadmissible as a basis for an exemption from liability, upon the ground that the accused in committing the homicide acted in self-defense. The crime having been committed by the owner of the house against the person who had by mutual consent frequented the house, and at a time when they were both in bed, the circumstance of nocturnity cannot be considered because the nighttime was not purposely selected by the accused.
PEOPLE vs. NARVAEZ Keywords: fencing, gaddemit!, land dispute, self-defense Issue: Can the defendant, after admitting having shot the deceased from the window of his house with a shotgun under the foregoing circumstances claim that he did so in defense of his person and his rights and therefore he should be exempted from criminal liability. Decision: No. defense of ones person or rights is treated as a justifying circumstance under Article 11 , paragraph 1 of the RPC, but in order for it to be appreciated, the following requisite should be present: unlawful aggression, reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it and lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself. There is no question that there was aggression on the part of the victims: one of the deceased ordering while the other actually participating in the fencing. The third element is also present. However, reasonableness of the resistance is also a requirement of the justifying circumstance of self-defense or defense of one's rights under paragraph I of Article 11, Revised Penal Code. When the appellant fired his shotgun from his window, killing his two victims, his resistance was disproportionate to the attack. Appellant is therefore guilty beyond reasonable doubt of only two (2) homicides, mitigated by the privileged extenuating circumstance of incomplete self-defense. (1) WHEN KILLING FOR HONOR HELD JUSTIFIED. (a) PICKING UP KNIFE OF RAPIST PREPARING TO LIE WITH ACCUSED AND STABBING HIM). PEOPLE vs. LUAGUE Keyword: Woman about to be raped while her husband was at work. Victim, jumping from the window fell on some stones. Issue: W/N the defendant is entitled on grounds of legitimate selfdefense. Decision: Yes. The defendants act constitutes a justifying circumstance since: Aside from the right to life on which rests the legitimate defense of our person, we have the right to property acquired by us, and the right to honor which is not the least prized of our patrimony. All the requisites of exempting circumstance are present and should be taken into consideration. (2) WHEN KILLING HELD UNJUSTIFIED. MERE TOUCHING OR GRASPING OF ARM, WITHOUT INSISTENCE OR REPETITION WHICH COULD BE CONSIDERED AN ATTEMPT AGAINST
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II. Unlawful Aggression
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When present Attempt to rape a woman PEOPLE VS. LUAGUE, SUPRA US vs. DOMEN Keyword: Fight over a carabao, striking with a Japanese wood and inflicting with a tuba knife causing the victims death. Issue: W/N there is a reasonable necessity for the means employed to repel the attack. Decision: Yes. There was reasonable necessity for the means employed by X to repel the attack. The ancient common law rule in homicide was denominated retreat to the wall. This doctrine make it the duty of a person assailed to retreat as far as he can before he is justified in meeting force with force. This principle has now given way in the US to stand ground when in the right rule. Accused did not provoke the assault. The law did not require the accused to retreat. The element of practicability made it impossible for him to determine during the heat of a sudden attack whether he would increase or diminish the risk to which exposed by standing his ground or stepping aside. The resistance was not disappropriate to the assault thus the accused is exempted from criminal liability because he acted in legitimate defense of his person. PEOPLE vs. MOJICA Keywords: Constabulary versus Police. threatened by the constabulary. Defendant was a police
Issue: W/N the defendant is entitled to acquittal for having killed the victim in the exercise of his right of self-defense. Decision: No. There were two stages in the fight. In the initial stage, the deceased assaulted the defendant but the latter was able to resist the aggression. When the deceased retreated, there was no longer any danger to the life of the accused but the latter pursued him and inflicted many additional wounds. An accused was no longer acting in self-defense when he pursued and killed a fleeing adversary, though originally the unlawful aggressor, there being then no more aggression to defend against, the same having ceased from the moment the deceased took to his heels. Since one of the ingredients of self-defense is missing, complete self-defense cannot be invoked. PEOPLE vs. LAUREL Keywords: Stolen kiss. Both men accused each other for starting the fight. Issue: W/N it was the defendant who was the assailant. Decision: Considering the preceding relations between the contending parties, it is the offended party who was directly or indirectly affected and who would naturally be interested in demanding an explanation and therefore in seeking the interview, so that when they meet it is to be presumed that such offended party, when not satisfied with the explanation offered, would be the aggressor, and this presumption is confirmed by the evidence. The victim then can invoke self-defense. PEOPLE VS. CABUNGCAL Keywords: ROCK THE BOAT!
Issue: W/N the defendant can maintain that he killed the victim in self-defense and that he is exempt from criminal liability. Decision: Yes. There was no provocation on the defendants part. A policeman in the performance of his duty must stand his ground and cannot take refuge in flight when attacked. His duty requires him to overcome his opponent and the force he may exert therefore differs somewhat from that which ordinarily may be offered in self-defense. Under the circumstances, the force employed by the defendant was reasonably necessary and that he acted in legitimate self-defense. PEOPLE vs. ALCONGA Keywords: Gambling, defendant cheated the victim. Victim became so angry and threatened to inflict harm on the defendant. Guards.
Issue: W/N the defendant is completely exempted from all criminal liability. Decision: Yes. The appellant having acted in defense of his wife and child and the other passengers in the boat in striking the deceased with an oar in order to make him desist from trying to upset the boat, and the means employed having been reasonably necessary in this defense, while it was at the cost of the life of the deceased, he is completely exempt from criminal liability. US vs. SUBINGSUBING Keywords: 78 year old man aided by another man to parry the blows of X who made unchaste proposals to the old mans wife.
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Issue: W/N the person who aided the old man by furnishing a weapon to the latter makes the former liable for homicide. Decision: No. Where the one, who used the weapon, was declared to be exempt from responsibility in repelling the attack of which he was the victim and in wounding his assailant therewith, the logical consequence of that declaration of exemption from responsibility is that the other, who furnished the legitimate weapon used in his defense should be also acquitted and declared exempt from any responsibility. If one who defends a third person under the conditions and with the requisites the penal law lays down for exempting him from responsibility should be acquitted of the charge in a case prosecuted against him, then when a person who did nothing more than furnish a weapon to one whom he saw in peril and in great need of defending himself and repelling a serious assault, it is illogical and unjust to deny to said assistant the same exemption from responsibility and the exoneration granted the slayer on the grounds of self-defense, as was held in the same judgment to be lawful and right. PEOPLE vs. DELIMA Keywords: Escapee who was killed by a policeman while ordering the latter to surrender. Issue: W/N the policeman should be held liable Decision: No. The killing was done in the performance f a duty. The deceased was under the obligation to surrender and had no right after evading service of his sentence, to commit assault and disobedience with a weapon in the hand, which although the policeman to resort to such an extreme means which, although it proved to be fatal, was justified by the circumstance. Policeman committed no crime. VALCORZA vs. PEOPLE Keywords: Detention prisoner charged of stealing chickens. Poultry area. Police only tried to hit the victim on the leg but unfortunately hit him on the back. The deceased did not head several warning shots. Issue: W/N the action of the defendant can be justified. Decision: The act performed was committed in the performance of official duty and was more or less necessary to prevent the escaping prisoner from successfully eluding the officers of the law. To hold the accused guilty of homicide may have the effect of demoralizing police officers discharging official functions identical or similar to those in the performance of which petitioner was engaged at the time he fired at the deceased, with the result that thereafter, there would be half-
hearted and dispirited efforts on their part to comply with such official duty. This would be a great detriment to public interest. PEOPLE vs. BONOAN Keywords: barbershop, insanity Ill kill you, Ill pay you Issue: W/N the prosecution have the burden of proving that the accused was sane at the time he committed the crime. Decision: No. In the Philippines, the burden, to be sure, is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime, but sanity is presumed, and when a defendant in a criminal case interposes the defense of mental incapacity, the burden of establishing that fact rests upon him. In the case at bar, the defense interposed being that the defendant was insane at the time he killed the deceased, the obligation of proving that affirmative allegation rests on the defense. HOW INSANITY IS PROVED In order to ascertain a person's mental condition at the time of the act, it is permissible to receive evidence of the condition of his mind a reasonable period both before and after that time. Direct testimony is not required nor are specific acts of derangement essential to establish insanity as a defense. Mind can only be known by outward acts. Thereby, we read the thoughts, the motives and emotions of a person and come to determine whether his sets conform to the practice of people of sound mind. To prove insanity, therefore, circumstantial evidence, if clear and convincing, suffice (People vs. Bonoan). PEOPLE vs. RENEGADO Keywords: Insane security guard. Slave-driver teacher who asked the guard to type test questionnaires. Issue: W/N the defendant can be acquitted with the argument that he should be exempted from criminal liability on account of insanity. Decision: No. For purposes of disposing of appellant's defense it becomes necessary to restate certain basic principles in criminal law, viz. that a person is criminally liable for a felony committed by him; that a felonious or criminal act (delito doloso) is presumed to have been done with deliberate intent, that is, with freedom intelligence, and malice because the moral and legal presumption is that freedom and intelligence constitute the normal condition of a person in the absence of evidence to the contrary; that one of the causes which will overthrow this presumption of voluntariness and intelligence is
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insanity in which even the actor is exempt from criminal liability as provided for in Article 12, paragraph 1, of the Revised Penal Code. In the eyes of the law, insanity exist when there is a complete deprivation of intelligence in committing the act, that is, the accused is deprived of reason, he acts without the least discernment because there is a complete absence of the power to discern, or that there is a total deprivation of freedom of the will; mere abnormality of the mental faculties will not exclude imputability. The onus probandi rest upon him who invokes insanity as an exempting circumstances and he must prove it by clear and positive evidence. Applying these principles, defense fails. US vs. KNIGHT Keyword: chauffer of US Army. Child was run over while the defendant was trying to overtake. Issue: W/N the defendant should be charged for reason of reckless negligence. Decision: No. One person is not compelled to travel behind another on the highway, and one has not the exclusive right to precede another. The traveler may pass to the front when he has good and sufficient grounds to believe that he can do so in safety. Whatever may have been the cause of an automobile accident, if it cannot be attributed to the misconduct or the negligence of the operator in the management of his machine, he cannot be held liable either civilly or criminally. US vs. ELICANAL Keyword: Captain killed by shipmates. Impulse of uncontrollable fear of a greater injury should the defendant refuse. Issue: W/N the defendant can invoke that he was acting under the impulse if an uncontrollable fear of a greater injury. Decision: Chief mate did not exercise influence over the accused. Before a force can be considered to be an irresistible one, or must produce such an effect upon the individual that in spite of all resistance, it reduces him to a mere instrument. The defense in a criminal action that the defendant in committing the crime acted under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear produced by a threat of an equal or greater injury to himself can be held to be sustained, it must appear that the threat which caused the fear was of an evil greater that, or at least equal to that which he was required to commit and that it promised an evil of such gravity and imminence that it might be said, that the, ordinary man would have succeeded to it. US vs. VICENTILLO
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Keywords: illegal detention; unfortunate circumstances than prolonged the detention; trivial crime committed by X to a municipal president. Issue: W/N the municipal president can be found guilty of illegal and arbitrary detention of the accused for a period of three days. Decision: No. The case of U. S. vs. Fortaleza followed as to the authority of a municipal president to make an arrest without a warrant for an offense committed in his presence, the municipal president being held to have all the usual powers of a public officer for the making of arrests without warrant. Under all the circumstances of this case, as set forth in the opinion, the defendant, after having arrested the complaining witness without a warrant, brought him before a justice of the peace as soon as "practicable" thereafter, notwithstanding the fact that three days were expended in doing so. In the absence of all evidence to the contrary, this court will not presume that, in a particular case of defiance of local authority by the unlawful violation of a local ordinance even where the offense thus committed is, in itself, trivial and unimportant, it may not have been necessary or at least expedient to make an arrest and bring the offender forthwith before the proper judicial officer. PEOPLE vs. BANDIAN Keywords: infanticide; baby killed by animal bites; abandonment Issue: W/N the mother can be held liable for infanticide and or abandonment of a minor. Decision: Infanticide and abandonment of a minor, to be punishable, must be committed willfully or consciously, or at least it must be the result of a voluntary, conscious and, free act or omission. Even in cases where said crimes are committed through mere imprudence, the person who commits them, under said circumstance, must be in the full enjoyment of his mental faculties, or must be conscious of his acts, in order that he may be held liable. The law exempts from criminal liability any person who acts under the circumstances in which the appellant acted in this case, by giving birth to a child in a thicket and later abandoning it, not because of imprudence or any other cause than that she was overcome by severe dizziness and extreme debility, with no fault or intention on her part. She has in her favor the fourth and seventh exempting circumstances. PEOPLE vs. DUNGO
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Keywords: confined in a mental hospital for insanity but found sane while perpetuating the crime. Hiding a deadly weapon and embarking to evade arrest are conscious adoption of the pattern to kill. DAR employee killed. Issue: W/N the defendant can be acquitted on the grounds of insanity. Decision: One who suffers from insanity at the time of the commission of the offense charged cannot in a legal sense entertain a criminal intent and cannot be held criminally responsible for his acts. His unlawful act is the product of a mental disease or a mental defect. In order that insanity may relieve a person from criminal responsibility, it is necessary that there be a complete deprivation of intelligence in committing the act, that is, that the accused be deprived of cognition; that he acts without the least discernment; that there be complete absence or deprivation of the freedom of the will (People vs. Puno). The fact that the defendant remembered his acts proves that he was not insane or if insane, his insanity admitted of lucid intervals. Insanity in law exists when there is a complete deprivation of intelligence. DISTINGUISH INSANITY FROM SANITY It is difficult to distinguish from insanity. There no definite defined border between sanity and insanity. Under foreign jurisdiction, there are three major criteria in determining the existence of insanity, namely: delusion test, irresistible impulse test, and the right and wrong test. Insane delusion is manifested by a false belief for which there is no reasonable basis and which would be incredible under the given circumstances to the same person if he is of compos mentis. Under the delusion test, an insane person believes in a state of things, the existence of which no rational person would believe. A person acts under an irresistible impulse when, by reason of duress or mental disease, he has lost the power to choose between right and wrong, to avoid the act in question, his free agency being at the time destroyed. Under the right and wrong test, a person is insane when he suffers from such perverted condition of the mental and moral faculties as to render him incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong. So far, under our jurisdiction, there has been no case that lays down a definite test or criterion for insanity. However, We can apply as test or criterion the definition of insanity under Section 1039 of the Revised Administrative Code, which states that insanity is "a manifestation in language or conduct, of disease or defect of the brain, or a more or less permanently diseased or disordered condition of the mentality, functional or organic, and characterized by perversion, inhibition, or by disordered function of the sensory or of the intellective faculties, or by impaired or disordered volition." Insanity as defined above is evinced by a deranged and perverted condition of the mental faculties, which is manifested in language or conduct. An insane person has no full and
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clear understanding of the nature and consequence of his act. Thus, insanity may be shown by surrounding circumstances fairly throwing light on the subject, such as evidence of the alleged deranged person's general conduct and appearance, his acts and conduct inconsistent with his previous character and habits, his irrational acts and beliefs, and his improvident bargains. Evidence of insanity must have reference to the mental condition of the person whose sanity is in issue, at the very time of doing the act, which is the subject of inquiry. However, it is permissible to receive of his mental condition for a reasonable period both before and after the time of the act in question. Direct testimony is not required nor the specific acts of derangement essential to establish insanity as a defense. The vagaries of the mind can only be known by outward acts: thereby we read the thoughts, motives and emotions of a person; and through which we determine whether his acts conform to the practice of people of sound mind. HOW COURTS SHOULD CONSIDER BURDEN OF PROOF IN CASES INVOLVING PLEA OF INSANITY Generally, in criminal cases, every doubt is resolved in favor of the accused. However, in the defense of insanity, doubt as to the fact of insanity should be resolved in favor of sanity. The burden of proving the affirmative allegation of insanity rests on the defense. Thus: In considering the plea of insanity as a defense in a prosecution for crime, the starting premise is that the law presumes all persons to be of sound mind. Otherwise stated, the law presumes all acts to be voluntary, and that it is improper to presume that acts were done unconsciously. Whoever, therefore, invokes insanity as a defense has the burden of proving its existence. The quantum of evidence required to overthrow the presumption of sanity is proof beyond reasonable doubt. Insanity is a defense in a confession and avoidance, and as such must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Insanity must be clearly and satisfactorily proved in order to acquit an accused on the ground of insanity. Appellant has not successfully discharged the burden of overcoming the presumption that he committed the crime as charged freely, knowingly, and intelligently. Lastly, the State should guard against sane murderer escaping punishment through a general plea of insanity. (People vs. Dungo). PEOPLE vs. RAFANAN Keywords: Schizophrenic person pleading not guilty for the crime of rape. Accused confined in the mental hospital after the incident. Seclusive who allege that he hears sounds, which he described as parang ibon, tinig ng ibon.
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Issue: W/N the defendant can be acquitted of the charge of rape on the ground that he was suffering from a mental disorder called schizophrenia at the time he committed the crime. Decision: No. The allegation of insanity or imbecility must be clearly proved. Without positive evidence that the defendant had previously lost his reason or was demented, a few moments prior to or during the perpetration of the crime, it will be presumed that he was in normal condition. Acts penalized by law are always refuted to be voluntary, and it is improper to conclude that a person acted unconsciously, in order to relieve him from liability, on the basis of his mental condition, unless his insanity and absence of will are proved. The standard set out in Formigones were commonly adopted in subsequent case, namely: (a) the tests of cognition-"complete deprivation of intelligence in committing the [criminal] act," and (b) the test of violation-"or that there be a total deprivation of freedom of the will." But our case law shows common reliance on the test of cognition, rather than on the test relating to "freedom of the will;" examination of the case law has failed to turn up any case where this Court has exempted an accused on the sole ground that he was totally deprived of "freedom of the will," i.e., without an accompanying "complete deprivation of intelligence." This is perhaps to be expected since person's volition naturally reaches out only towards that which is presented as desirable by his intelligence, whether that intelligence be diseased be healthy. In any case, where the accused failed to show complete impairment or loss of intelligence, the Court has recognized at most a mitigating, not an exempting, circumstance in accord with Article 13(9) of the Revised Penal Code. "Such illness of the offender as would diminish the exercise of the willpower of the offender without however depriving him of the consciousness of his Acts." The law presumes every man to be sane. A person accused of a crime has the burden of proving his affirmative allegation of insanity. AGGARVATING AND MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES US vs. HICKS Keyword: Afro-American soldier and Moro woman having an illicit affair. The woman found another man. Jealousy. Evident premeditation. Issue No 1: W/N murder was committed. Decision: The above-stated facts, which have been fully proven in the present case, constitute the crime of murder, defined and punished by article 403 of the Penal Code, in that the woman Agustina Sola met a violent death, with the qualifying circumstance of treachery (alevosia), she being suddenly and roughly attacked and unexpectedly fired upon
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with a 45-caliber revolver, at close, if not point blank range, while the injured woman was unarmed and unprepared, and at a time when she was listening to a conversation, in which she was concerned, between her aggressor and a third person, and after usual and customary words had passed between her and her aggressor. From all of the foregoing it is logically inferred that means, manners, and forms were employed in the attack that directly and specially insured the consummation of the crime without such risk to the author thereof as might have been offered by the victim who, owing to the suddenness of the attack, was doubtless unable to flee from the place where she was standing, or even escape or divert the weapon. Issue No. 2: W/N Evident premeditation can be appreciated. Decision: Yes. The circumstance of premeditation can be appreciated but should only be considered as merely a generic one. Premeditation is, however, manifest and evident by reason of the open acts executed by the accused. All the foregoing circumstances conclusively prove that the accused, deliberately and after due reflection had resolved to kill the woman who had left him for another man, and in order to accomplish his perverse intention with safety, notwithstanding the fact that he was already provided with a clean and well-prepared weapon and carried other loaded cartridges besides those already in his revolver, he entered the house, greeting everyone courteously and conversed with his victim, in what appeared to be a proper manner, disguising his intention and calming her by his apparent repose and tranquility, doubtless in order to successfully accomplish his criminal design, behaving himself properly as he had planned to do beforehand. Issue No 3: W/N the accused can invoke loss of reason and selfcontrol produced by jealousy. Decision: No. The only causes which mitigate the criminal responsibility for the loss of self-control are such as originate from legitimate feelings, not those which arise from vicious, unworthy, and immoral passions. US vs. DELA CRUZ Keywords: Due to heat of passion, a man kills his concubine upon discovering that she had carnal communication with another man. Issue No. 1: W/N the circumstances can be considered an extenuation of his criminal liability. Decision: Yes. The commission of the offense of which defendant was convicted was marked with the extenuating circumstance defined in subsection 7 of article 9, in that defendant "acted upon an impulse so powerful as naturally to have produced passion and obfuscation," the
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evidence disclosing that in the heat of passion he killed the deceased, who had theretofore been his querida (concubine or lover), upon discovering her in flagrante in carnal communication with a mutual acquaintance. Issue No 2: W/N this case can be decided based on Hicks case. Decision: No. In the former case the cause of the alleged "passion and obfuscation" of the aggressor was the convict's vexation, disappointment and anger engendered by the refusal of the woman to continue to live in illicit relations with him, which she had a perfect right to do, his reason for killing her being merely that she had elected to leave him and with his full knowledge to go and live with another. In the case at bar the impulse upon which the defendant acted, and which naturally produced "passion and obfuscation," was not that the woman declined to have illicit relations with him, but the sudden revelation that she was untrue to him, and his discovery of her in flagrante in the arms of another. As said by the supreme court of Spain in the above cited decision, this was a "sufficient impulse" in the ordinary and natural course of things to produce the passion and obfuscation which the law declares to be one of the extenuating circumstances to be taken into consideration by the court. PEOPLE vs. YUMAN Keyword: Man refused to go back to his live-in partner. that woman; penknife Issue No. 1: W/N the woman committed a crime. Decision: Yes. Her act of mortally wounding her lover had not been precede by aggression on the part of the latter. There is no occasion to speak her of the reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it", nor is it necessary to inquire whether or not there was "sufficient provocation" on the part of the one invoking legitimate self-defense because both circumstances presuppose unlawful aggression, which, we repeat, was not present in the instant case. Issue No. 2: W/N a slight pushing of the head which hurt the woman can be considered a mitigating circumstance: Decision: No. A slight push of the head with the hand-which, according to her was the cause that led her to stab him, such act does not constitute the unlawful aggression mentioned by the Code, to repel which it is lawful to employ a means of defense which may be reasonably necessary. "Considering that an unlawful aggression. as a fundamental requisite of self-defense is not necessarily implied in any act of aggression against a particular person, when the author of the
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same does not persist in his purpose or when he desists therefrom to the extent that the person attacked is no longer in peril. Issue No. 3: W/N she is entitled to a mitigating circumstance of lack of intention to cause grave injury. . Decision: No. The stab-wound inflicted upon the deceased by the accused was not only mortal, but the victim thus wounded and running away was also pursued by the accused, knife in hand, and- the latter would perhaps have inflicted upon him other wounds had it not been for the timely arrival of policeman who calmed her bellicose attitude and placed her under arrest. This marked obstinacy of the accused in her aggression clearly reveals her intention to cause to its full extent the injury she has committed. Issue No. 4: W/N the defendant is entitled circumstance that she acted under obfuscation. to a mitigating
Decision: Yes. This mitigating circumstance should be taken into consideration in favor of the accused, in view of the peculiar circumstances of the case, especially the fact that the accused had been abandoned by the deceased after living together for three or four years, and the harsh treatment which the deceased gave the accused on the afternoon of the day in question, a short time before the aggression. Issue No 5: W/N she entitled to the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender to the authorities. Decision: No. Under the circumstance, it would be an error to take into consideration this circumstance. Issue No. 6: W/N she is entitled to a mitigating circumstance of lack of instruction. Decision: Yes. The defendant is a mere wage-earner and could not even sign her statement before the police and had to affix her thumb mark. PEOPLE vs. BELLO Keyword: Old man; kaingero; induced his young bride to work as a public hostess. Woman refused to give support and was seeing another man. 5 glasses of tuba; White slave trade. Issue No.1: W/N treachery can be appreciated in order to qualify the crime to murder.
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Decision: While it cannot be denied that Alicia was stabbed at the back, the wound was but a part and continuation of the aggression. The four (4) stab wounds were inflicted indiscriminately, without regard as to which portion of her body was the subject of attack. The trial court itself found that the stab in the back was inflicted as the victim was running away. For this reason, treachery cannot be imputed Issue No. 2: W/N there is evident premeditation. Decision: Evident premeditation was, likewise, not established.. The accused had been carrying a balisong with him for a long time as a precaution against drunkards, and without any present plan or intent to use it against his commonlaw wife. That he watched her movements daily manifested his jealous character, but there is no evidence that from this jealousy sprouted a plan to snuff out her life. Issue No. 3: W/N the crime can be qualified by abuse of superior strength. Decision: No. The evidence does not show, either, any superior strength on the part of the accused, and, not possessing it, he could not take advantage of it. True that he was armed with a balisong, but he was old and baldado (invalid), while Alicia was in the prime of her youth, and not infirm. The facts are not sufficient to draw a comparison of their relative strength. Possession of a balisong gives an aggressor a formidable advantage over the unarmed victim, but the physique of the aggressor ought also to be considered. At any rate, taking into account the emotional excitement of the accused, it is not clearly shown that there was "intencin deliberada de prevalerse de la superioridad aprovecharse intencionadamente de la misma" i.e., deliberate intent to take advantage of superior strength. Issue No. 4: W/N circumstance. nighttime maybe appreciated as aggravating
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together as husband and wife. Neither is it shown that the accused took advantage of any such special confidence in order to carry out the crime. Issue No. 6: W/N the accused can claim a mitigating circumstance of having acted on provocation strong to cause passion and obfuscation. Decision: Yes. It will be recalled that the lower court found that the accused had previously reproved the deceased for allowing herself to be caressed by a stranger. Her loose conduct was forcibly driven home to the accused by a remark he heard on the very day of the crime that the accused was the husband "whose wife was being used by Maring for purposes of prostitution", a remark that so deeply wounded the appellant's feelings that he was driven to consume a large amount of wine (tuba) before visiting the deceased to plead with her to leave her work. Alicia's insulting refusal to renew her liaison with the accused, therefore, was not motivated by any desire to lead a chaste life henceforth, but showed her determination to pursue a lucrative profession that permitted her to distribute her favors indiscriminately. We can not see how the accused's insistence that she live with him again, and his rage at her rejection of the proposal, can be properly qualified as arising from immoral and unworthy passions. Even without benefit of wedlock, a monogamous liaison appears morally of a higher level than gainful promiscuity. PEOPLE vs. MACBUL Keywords: habitual delinquent; stealing two sacks of papers which belong to the Provincial Government of Sulu. Mitigating circumstance of plea of guilt and extreme poverty. Issue: W/N the court erred in considering the defendant a habitual delinquent. Decision: Yes. A person shall be deemed to be habitually delinquent, if within a period of ten years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes of robo, hurto, estafa, or falsificacin, he is found guilty of any of said crimes a third time or oftener." Therefore, appellant's first conviction, cannot be taken into account because his second conviction took place fourteen years later. Hence within the purview of habitual delinquents, one previous conviction against him, namely, that last one. Issue No. 2: circumstance. W/N extreme poverty can be appreciated as a mitigating
Decision: No. The crime was committed at nighttime, but the accuse did no seek or take advantage of it to better accomplish his purpose. In fact, the place was bright and well lighted; hence the circumstance did not aggravate the crime. Issue no. 5: W/N the can be aggravating circumstance of abuse of confidence and obvious ungratefulness. Decision: No. There is nothing to show that the assailant and his common-law wife reposed in one another any special confidence that could be abused, or any gratitude owed by one to the other that ought to be respected, and which would bear any relation, or connection, with the crime committed. None is inferable from the fact that the accused was much older than his victim, or that he was penniless while she was able to earn a living and occasionally gave him money, since, both lived
Decision: Yes. This court approves it, recognizing the immanent principle that the right to life is more sacred than a mere property right. That is not to encourage or even countenance theft but merely to dull somewhat the keen and pain-producing edges of the stark realities of life.
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PEOPLE vs. DY POL Keyword: falsification of public document; reduction of penalty due to mitigating circumstance of plea of guilty and lack of irreparable material damage. Issue: W/N the accused is entitled to a mitigating circumstance of plea of guilt. Decision: Yes. The plea of guilty spontaneously entered by the accused prior to the presentation of the evidence for the prosecution constitutes mitigating circumstance. Issue No. 2: W/N the accused can invoke the fact that no irreparable material damage was caused to the offended part in the commission of the crime. Decision: No. The mitigating circumstance so invoked, which is that the crime committed by the accused has caused no irreparable material damage to the offended party, is not recognized by the RPC. Neither is it among those which may be considered as similar nature and analogous to those expressly recognized in accordance with Article 13 section 10 and therefore it cannot correctly be taken into consideration.
Issue No 2: W/N treachery can be appreciated in qualifying the crime to murder. Decision: Yes. Treachery (alevosia) qualified the killing to murder. Undisputed facts show that the victims hands were tied and his mouth was gagged with a flannel cloth before he was stabbed twice with an icepick and buried in a shallow grave near a creek. These facts portray well that the tied hands of the victim rendered him defenseless and helpless thereby allowing the accused to commit the crime without risk at all to their person. Issue: W/N treachery can be appreciated as regards the two other accused who did not do the actual stabbing. Decision: Conspiracy, connivance and unity of purpose and intention among the accused were present throughout in the execution of this crime. The four participated in the planning and execution of the crime and were at the scene in all its stages. They cannot escape the consequence of any of their acts even if they deviated in some detail from what they originally thought of. Conspiracy implies concert of design and not participation in every detail of execution. Thus, treachery should be considered against all persons participating or cooperating in the perpetration of the crime. Issue No. 3: W/N the aggravating circumstance of nighttime can be absorbed in treachery. Decision: It is clear that appellants took advantage of nighttime in committing the felonies charged. Inasmuch as the treachery consisted in the fact that the victims' hands were tied at the time they were beaten, the circumstance of nighttime is not absorbed in treachery, but can be perceived distinctly therefrom, since the treachery rests upon an independent factual basis. A special case therefore is present to which the rule that nighttime is absorbed in treachery does not apply. This aggravating circumstance was correctly appreciated by the lower court regardless of whether or not the same was purposely and deliberately sought by the accused for it is clear that the darkness of the night facilitated the commission of the crime and was taken advantage of by them. Issue: W/N the purposive selection of uninhabited place be appreciated. Decision: killing him help from solitude of The place was ideal not merely for burying the victim but also for for it was a place where the possibility of the victim receiving some third persons was completely absent. The accused sought the the place in order to better attain their purpose without interference,
PEOPLE vs. ONG Keyword: Debt; Kidnapped, stabbed to death and buried. Victim even made a proposal of love to the wife of the accused in lieu the latters gambling debt. Issue: W/N the accused be held liable for the crimes of kidnapping and murder. Decision: No. The crime was murder only. There was no illegal detention and victim was killed and promptly buried. On the basis of the foregoing evidence, the accused can hardly be held liable for kidnapping as well. It may not be amiss to state that an accused is entitled to acquittal unless his guilt is shown by proof beyond reasonable doubt. (Rule 133, Section 1, Revised Rules of Court). The evidence at hand hardly satisfied the requirement of proof beyond reasonable doubt as to the charge of kidnapping. The necessary result is that the accused can he held liable only for the killing of the victim. In other words, the time interval when the deceased was actually deprived of his liberty was short and the same was only incidental to the main objective of murdering him.
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and to secure themselves against detection and punishment. The purposive selection of an uninhabited place is thus clear from the evidence. Issue No. 5: W/N the aggravating circumstance of abuse of confidence can be appreciated. Decision: In order for this circumstance to obtain, it is necessary that there be a relation of trust and confidence between the accused and the one against whom the crime was committed, and that the accused made use of such relation to commit the crime. It is essential too that the confidence be a means of facilitating the commission of the crime, the culprit taking advantage of the offended party's belief that the former would not abuse said confidence. The accused and the victim were together that night in the nightclub as well as in the car not because of said confidence. It was merely because the accused had some accounts to settle with him. Issue No. 6: W/N the use of motor vehicle be appreciated as aggravating circumstance. Decision: Yes. The motor vehicle facilitated the stark happening. It has been held that the use of a motor vehicle is aggravating in murder where the said vehicle was used in transporting the victim and the accused. Issue No. 7: W/N cruelty can be appreciated as an aggravating circumstance. Decision: No. Cruelty (ensaamiento), is an aggravating circumstance, cannot be considered here. The brief of the Acting Solicitor General agrees with that of the accused in denying the attendance of cruelty as an aggravating circumstance. Indeed, as it appears from the record, the group intended merely to kill the victim, bury him, and flee from the locale of the fearful crime. For cruelty to exist, it must be shown that the accused enjoyed and delighted in making their victim suffer slowly and gradually, causing him unnecessary physical or moral pain in the consummation of the criminal act. Even granting that the victim died because of asphyxiation when he was buried and not hemorrhage from stab wounds, it appears that the victim's burial was not meant to make him suffer any longer but simply to conceal his body and the crime itself. Issue No. 8: W/N there is evident premeditation. Decision: Yes. the qualifying circumstance of evident premeditation (premeditacion conocida) attended the commission of the crime. The accused meditated and tenaciously persisted in the accomplishment of the crime and were not prompted merely by the impulse of the moment. Issue: W/N the plead of guilt can be used as a mitigating circumstance. Decision: Yes. Since the kidnapping portion of the crime cannot be appreciated beyond reasonable doubt, it would appear that the plead of guilty
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to this information naturally would be most unfair to the accused since the penalty would be that of capital punishment. The accused showed signs of remorsefulness upon his arrest when he cooperated with the police authorities in the solution of the crime. Issue: W/N the accused can be credited with any mitigating circumstance. Decision: The accused Benjamin Ong is likewise is entitled to the mitigating circumstance that is analogous to passion and obfuscation (Art. 13, par. 10, Revised Penal Code). US vs. GAMAO Keywords: Priest killed in exchange of a sum of money. Inducement by the uncle; nephew refused the money but nonetheless carried on with the crime. Issue: W/N the aggravating circumstance that the accused forced or induced his nephew to murder the priest by hire or reward be appreciated. Decision: No. The record does not show beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused was forced or induced to commit this crime. It is true that he owed his uncle a sum of money and the latter could have used these obligations in order to force his nephew to commit the crime but it has not been shown beyond reasonable doubt that the uncle actually hired his nephew to kill the deceased since the nephew rejected the offer. Issue No. 2: Was the crime properly classified as murder? Decision: Yes. The deceased received the fatal blow while he was in the dark space between the door and the stairs leading to the upper portion of the convent. He was unable to see by whom the blow was struck. He had no opportunity to offer any resistance whatever. The murderer taking advantage of the darkness was lying in wait for his victim, thereby employing means or methods in the execution of this crime which tended directly and specially to insure its execution without risk to himself, arising from the defense which the priest might make. These facts clearly establish the qualifying circumstance of alevosia in so far as the accused is concerned. Issue No. 3: W/N extreme ignorance can be used as a mitigating circumstance. Decision: Yes. Owing to his extreme ignorance, the SC was compelled to give him the benefits of the mitigating circumstance of lack of discretion since it was shown the nephew was a poor ignorant fisherman and only depends on his uncle for subsistence. Issue No. 4: W/N the uncle should be considered as a principal by induction. Decision: Yes. The nephew merely depends on his uncle for his subsistence while the latter was found to be a man of great influence. He hated the Roman
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Catholic Church and called a meeting in his house where the question of murdering the priest was discussed. He selected his nephew to commit the crime and dominated all who were present. The influence exercised by the uncle over his nephew was so great and powerful that the latter could not resist it. There can be no question that the latter was directly induced by his uncle to kill the priest. PEOPLE vs. DE LA ROSA Keywords: demonstration; FEATI; security guard threw a pillbox hitting one of the demonstrators in the head. Issue No. 1: W/N the act of the accused can be characterized as murder and multiple attempted murder Decision: Yes. The crime committed is murder with multiple attempted murder qualified by the use of explosive. Issue No. 2: W/N the aggravating circumstance of treachery be appreciated as well. Decision: Yes. Issue No 3: W/N the accused be credited with aggravating circumstance of lack of intention to commit so grave a wong as that actually done. Decision: No. I. INTOXICATION WHEN MITIGATING. i) (a) NOT HABITUAL PRESUMPTION IN FAVOR OF NON-HABITUAL CHARACTER OF INTOXICATION II.
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of the commission of the crime must then be considered as a mitigating circumstance. Also, where it appears that the accused fired a loaded revolver at the deceased and killed him, it must be presumed that he intended the natural consequences of his act, and he is not entitled to the benefit of the mitigating circumstance established by the Penal Code. Provocation on the part of Marsh cannot be considered as a mitigating circumstance since there was no evidence how the quarrel arose. Nor can the fact that the homicide was immediately preceded by an affray between the deceased and the defendant may be considered as a mitigating circumstance. No other mitigating circumstance can be appreciated in his favor for one who attacks another with a deadly weapon as a revolver must know that the most probable result of such an aggression is the death of the person attacked. Accused is only entitled to a mitigating defense of intoxication. ii) DEFINING HABITUAL DRUNKARD AS ONE GIVEN TO INTOXICATION BY EXCESSIVE USE OF INTOXICATING DRINKS U.S. vs. MCMANN
A.
Facts: McMann and on McKay (one the victims) were packers at Camp Vicars in Mindanao. McMann and McKay went to the house of a Moro to get some matches with which to light their cigarettes however, the owners of the house would not allow them to enter. McMann then saw another Moro who was carving the head of a bolo. McMann snatched the bolo cutting the latters fingers. The moro then reported McMann to the authorities. Thereafter, the Moro, McMann and McKay found themselves waiting in a room (not clear if they were waiting to be investigated, but they were all together during that time). McMann suddenly fired at McKay hitting the latter. When the Moro tried to run, Mcmann also fired at him. Issue: W/N intoxication may be considered a mitigating circumstance. Decision: It is unlikely that the shooting was accidental since he witnesses testified that they say McMann aiming the gun at Mac Kays head. It is probable that McMann was actually going to shoot the Moro but because he was drunk at that time, killed Mac Kay instead. Clearly, defendant cannot claim lack of intention. The court also held that the defendant was drunk at the time the crime was committed. But intoxication in this case cannot be considered as a mitigating circumstance since the defendant is a habitual drunkard. Habitual drunkard is defined as one who habituated to intemperance whenever the opportunity offered
US vs. FITZGERALD Facts: The accused and the victim had a dispute in a distillery. It can be deduced that both are intoxicated. The victim (Marsh) struck Fitzgerald, which knocked the latter down. Fitzgerald immediately arose, and saying I will show you sons of bs, ran toward the ice plant in search of a revolver and returned. After which, he saw Marsh and fired at him. Marsh died soon after. Issue: W/N a mitigating circumstance can be considered. Decision: In the presence of proof to the contrary, it will be presumed that intoxication is not habitual, and the fact that the accused was drunk at the time
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ACCUSED SEEN DRUNK TWELVE TIMES OR MORE PEOPLE vs. BALONDO
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Decision: Yes. The circumstance of his having made a voluntary plea of guilt before the court of evidence by the prosecution. PERSONS WHO ARE CRIMINALLY LIABLE
Keywords: leaves.
Cannibal; Uncle killed his niece to taste human flesh; banana Under the Revised Penal Code, when more than one person participated in the commission of the crime, the law looks into their participation because in punishing offenders, the Revised Penal Code classifies them as: (1) (2) (3) principal; accomplice; or accessory.
Issue No. 1: W/N it can be contended that three years after the commission of the crime, that the court should have subjected the accused to some psychiatric test to determine his sanity. Decision: No. The record constitutes sufficient justification for the conclusion that the accused was not insane at the time of the commission of the crime. The accused had made several statements which were reduced into writing and signed by him. The facts and circumstances narrated by the accused in those different statements tally in important details. The accused voluntarily admitted his guilt. Since the accused was charged of having killed the deceased for more than three years ago, it is not possible now to ascertain the mental condition of the defendant as of the time when he committed the crime of which he is charged. Issue No. 2: W/N the accused used superior strength. Decision: murder. Yes. The attendant circumstance qualifies the crime committed as
This classification is true only under the Revised Penal Code and is not used under special laws, because the penalties under the latter are never graduated. Do not use the term principal when the crime committed is a violation of special law. Only use the term offender. Also only classify offenders when more than one took part in the commission of the crime to determine the proper penalty to be imposed. So, if only one person committed a crime, do not use principal. Use the offenders, culprits, or the accused. When a problem is encountered where there are several participants in the crime, the first thing to find out is if there is a conspiracy. If there is, as a general rule, the criminal liability of all will be the same, because the act of one is the act of all. However, if the participation of one is so insignificant, such that even without his cooperation, the crime would be committed just as well, then notwithstanding the existence of a conspiracy, such offender will be regarded only as an accomplice. The reason for this ruling is that the law favors a milder form of criminal liability if the act of the participant does not demonstrate a clear perversity. As to the liability of the participants in a felony, the Code takes into consideration whether the felony committed is grave, less grave, or light. When the felony is grave, or less grave, all participants are criminally liable. But where the felony is only light only the principal and the accomplice are liable. The accessory is not. But even the principal and the accomplice will not be liable if the felony committed is only light and the same is not consummated unless such felony is against persons or property. If they are not and the same is not consummated, even the principal and the accomplice are not liable.
Issue No. 3: W/N sex can be appreciated as an aggravating circumstance against the accused. Decision: Yes. The commission of the crime was attended by aggravating circumstance of disregard of the respect due the offended party on account of her sex. Issue No. 4: W/N Ignominy can be added to the natural effects of the act. Decision. No. Nothing in the record shows that before the deceased died, she was subjected to such indignities as would cause her shame or moral suffering. Issue No. 5: W/N the fact that the victim was the niece of the accused aggravate the crime. Decision: No. The alternative circumstance of relationship shall be taken into consideration only when the offended party is the spouse, ascendant, descendant, legitimate, natural or adopted brother or sister or relative by affinity in the same degree of the offended. Issue No. 6: W/N there are any mitigating circumstance that can be appreciated in favor of the accused.
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Therefore it is only when the light felony is against person or property that criminal liability attaches to the principal or accomplice, even though the felony is only attempted or frustrated, but accessories are not liable for liable for light felonies. Principal by accomplice indispensable cooperation distinguished from an
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cooperation because if he did not block the way of the victim, the offender could not have caught up with the latter. In another case, A was mauling B. C, a friend of B tried to approach but D stopped C so that A was able to continuously maul B. The liability of the fellow who stopped the friend from approaching is as an accomplice. Understandably he did not cooperate in the mauling, he only stopped to other fellow from stopping the mauling. In case of doubt, favor the lesser penalty or liability. Apply the doctrine of pro reo. Principal by inducement
It is not just a matter of cooperation, it is more than if the crime could hardly be committed. It is not that the crime would not be committed because if that is what you would imply it becomes an ingredient of the crime and that is not what the law contemplates. In the case of rape, where three men were accused, one was on top of the woman, one held the hands, one held the legs, the Supreme Court ruled that all participants are principals. Those who held the legs and arms are principals by indispensable cooperation. The accused are father and son. The father told his son that the only way to convince the victim to marry him is to resort to rape. So when they saw the opportunity the young man grabbed the woman, threw her on the ground and placed himself on top of her while the father held both legs of the woman and spread them. The Supreme Court ruled that the father is liable only as an accomplice. The point is not just on participation but on the importance of participation in committing the crime. In the first situation, the facts indicate that if the fellow who held the legs of the victim and spread them did not do so, the offender on top could hardly penetrate because the woman was strong enough to move or resist. In the second situation, the son was much bigger than the woman so considering the strength of the son and the victim, penetration is possible even without the assistance of the father. The son was a robust farm boy and the victim undernourished. The act of the father in holding the legs of the victim merely facilitated the penetration but even without it the son would have penetrated. The basis is the importance of the cooperation to the consummation of the crime. If the crime could hardly be committed without such cooperation, then such cooperation would bring about a principal. But if the cooperation merely facilitated or hastened the consummation of the crime, this would make the cooperator merely an accomplice. In a case where the offender was running after the victim with a knife. Another fellow came and blocked the way of the victim and because of this, the one chasing the victim caught up and stabbed the latter at the back. It was held that the fellow who blocked the victim is a principal by indispensable
Concept of the inducement one strong enough that the person induced could hardly resist. This is tantamount to an irresistible force compelling the person induced to carry out the execution of the crime. Ill advised language is not enough unless he who made such remark or advice is a co-conspirator in the crime committed. While in the course of a quarrel, a person shouted to A, Kill him! Kill him. A killed the other fellow. Is the person who shouted criminally liable. Is that inducement? No. It must be strong as irresistible force. There was a quarrel between two families. One of the sons of family A came out with a shotgun. His mother then shouted, Shoot!. He shot and killed someone. Is the mother liable? No. Examples of inducement: I will give you a large amount of money. I will not marry you if you do not kill B(let us say he really loves the inducer). They practically become co-conspirators. degree of inducement anymore. Therefore you do not look into the
In People v. Balderrama, Ernesto shouted to his younger brother Oscar, Birahin mo na, birahin mo na. Oscar stabbed the victim. It was held that there was no conspiracy. Joint or simultaneous action per se is not indicia of conspiracy without showing of common design. Oscar has no rancor with the victim for him to kill the latter. Considering that Ernesto had great moral ascendancy and influence over Oscar being much older, 35 years old, than the latter, who was 18 yrs old, and it was Ernesto who provided his allowance, clothing as well as food and shelter, Ernesto is principal by inducement. In People v. Agapinay, 186 SCRA 812, the one who uttered Kill him, we will bury him, while the felonious aggression was taking place cannot be held liable
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as principal by inducement. Utterance was said in the excitement of the hour, not a command to be obeyed. In People v. Madali, 188 SCRA 69, the son was mauled. The family was not in good graces of the neighborhood. Father challenged everybody and when neighbors approached, he went home to get a rifle. The shouts of his wife Here comes another, shoot him cannot make the wife the principal by inducement. It is not the determining cause of the crime in the absence of proof that the words had great dominance and influence over the husband. Neither is the wifes act of beaming the victim with a flashlight indispensable to the commission of the killing. She assisted her husband in taking good aim, but such assistance merely facilitated the felonious act of shooting. Considering that it was not so dark and the husband could have accomplished the deed without his wifes help, and considering further that doubts must be resolved in favor of the accused, the liability of the wife is only that of an accomplice. Accessories Two situations where accessories are not criminally liable: Questions & Answers (1) (2) When the felony committed is a light felony; When the accessory is related to the principal as spouse, or as an ascendant, or descendant or as brother or sister whether legitimate, natural or adopted or where the accessory is a relative by affinity within the same degree, unless the accessory himself profited from the effects or proceeds of the crime or assisted the offender to profit therefrom.
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assists the principal to profit by the effects of robbery or theft is not just an accessory to the crime, but principally liable for fencing under Presidential Decree No. 1612. Any person who, with intent to gain, acquires and/or sell, possesses, keeps or in any manner deals with any article of value which he knows or should be known to him to be the proceeds of robbery or theft is considered a fence and incurs criminal liability for fencing under said decree. The penalty is higher than that of a mere accessory to the crime of robbery or theft. Likewise, the participation of one who conceals the effects of robbery or theft gives rise to criminal liability for fencing, not simply of an accessory under paragraph 2 of Article 19 of the Code. Mere possession of any article of value which has been the subject of robbery or theft brings about the presumption of fencing. Presidential Decree No. 1612 has, therefore, modified Article 19 of the Revised Penal Code.
1. May one who profited out of the proceeds of estafa or malversation be prosecuted under the Anti-Fencing Law? No. There is only a fence when the crime is theft or robbery. If the crime is embezzlement or estafa, still an accessory to the crime of estafa, not a fence. 2. If principal committed robbery by snatching a wristwatch and gave it to his wife to sell, is the wife criminally liable? Can she be prosecuted as an accessory and as a fence? The liability of the wife is based on her assisting the principal to profit and that act is punishable as fencing. She will no longer be liable as an accessory to the crime of robbery. In both laws, Presidential Decree No. 1612 and the Revised Penal Code, the same act is the basis of liability and you cannot punish a person twice for the same act as that would go against double jeopardy. Acquiring the effects of piracy or brigandage
One cannot be an accessory unless he knew of the commission of the crime. One must not have participated in the commission of the crime. The accessory comes into the picture when the crime is already consummated. Anyone who participated before the consummation of the crime is either a principal or an accomplice. He cannot be an accessory. When an offender has already involved himself as a principal or accomplice, he cannot be an accessory any further even though he performs acts pertaining to an accessory. Accessory as a fence The Revised Penal Code defines what manners of participation shall render an offender liable as an accessory. Among the enumeration is by profiting themselves or by assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the crime. So the accessory shall be liable for the same felony committed by the principal. However, where the crime committed by the principal was robbery or theft, such participation of an accessory brings about criminal liability under Presidential Decree No. 1612 (Anti-Fencing Law). One who knowingly profits or
It is relevant to consider in connection with the criminal liability of accessories under the Revised Penal Code, the liability of persons acquiring property subject of piracy or brigandage. The act of knowingly acquiring or receiving property which is the effect or the proceeds of a crime generally brings about criminal liability of an accessory
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under Article 19, paragraph 1 of the Revised Penal Code. But if the crime was piracy of brigandage under Presidential Decree No. 533 (Anti-piracy and AntiHighway Robbery Law of 1974), said act constitutes the crime of abetting piracy or abetting brigandage as the case may be, although the penalty is that for an accomplice, not just an accessory, to the piracy or brigandage. To this end, Section 4 of Presidential Decree No. 532 provides that any person who knowingly and in any manner acquires or receives property taken by such pirates or brigands or in any manner derives benefit therefrom shall be considered as an accomplice of the principal offenders and be punished in accordance with the Rules prescribed by the Revised Penal Code. It shall be presumed that any person who does any of the acts provided in this Section has performed them knowingly, unless the contrary is proven. Although Republic Act No. 7659, in amending Article 122 of the Revised Penal Code, incorporated therein the crime of piracy in Philippine territorial waters and thus correspondingly superseding Presidential Decree No. 532, Section 4 of the Decree which punishes said acts as a crime of abetting piracy or brigandage, still stands as it has not been repealed nor modified, and is not inconsistent with any provision of Republic Act No. 7659. Destroying the corpus delicti When the crime is robbery or theft, with respect to the second involvement of an accessory, do not overlook the purpose which must be to prevent discovery of the crime. The corpus delicti is not the body of the person who is killed, even if the corpse is not recovered, as long as that killing is established beyond reasonable doubt, criminal liability will arise and if there is someone who destroys the corpus delicti to prevent discovery, he becomes an accessory. Harboring or concealing an offender In the third form or manner of becoming an accessory, take note that the law distinguishes between a public officer harboring, concealing or assisting the principal to escape and a private citizen or civilian harboring concealing or assisting the principal to escape. In the case of a public officer, the crime committed by the principal is immaterial. Such officer becomes an accessory by the mere fact that he helped the principal to escape by harboring or concealing, making use of his public function and thus abusing the same. On the other hand, in case of a civilian, the mere fact that he harbored concealed or assisted the principal to escape does not ipso facto make him an accessory. The law requires that the principal must have committed the crime
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of treason, parricide, murder or attempt on the life of the Chief Executive. If this is not the crime, the civilian does not become an accessory unless the principal is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime. Even if the crime committed by the principal is treason, or murder or parricide or attempt on the life of the Chief Executive, the accessory cannot be held criminally liable without the principal being found guilty of any such crime. Otherwise the effect would be that the accessory merely harbored or assisted in the escape of an innocent man, if the principal is acquitted of the charges. Illustration: Crime committed is kidnapping for ransom. Principal was being chased by soldiers. His aunt hid him in the ceiling of her house and aunt denied to soldiers that her nephew had ever gone there. When the soldiers left, the aunt even gave money to her nephew to go to the province. Is aunt criminally liable? No. Article 20 does not include an auntie. However, this is not the reason. The reason is because one who is not a public officer and who assists an offender to escape or otherwise harbors, or conceals such offender, the crime committed by the principal must be either treason, parricide murder or attempt on the life of the Chief executive or the principal is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime. The crime committed by the principal is determinative of the liability of the accessory who harbors, conceals knowing that the crime is committed. If the person is a public officer, the nature of the crime is immaterial. What is material is that he used his public function in assisting escape. However, although under paragraph 3 of Article 19 when it comes to a civilian, the law specifies the crimes that should be committed, yet there is a special law which punishes the same act and it does not specify a particular crime. Presidential Decree No. 1829, which penalizes obstruction of apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders, effective January 16, 1981, punishes acts commonly referred to as obstructions of justice. This Decree penalizes under Section 1(c) thereof, the act, inter alia, of (c) Harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of any person he knows or has reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has committed any offense under existing penal laws in order to prevent his arrest, prosecution and conviction. Here, there is no specification of the crime to be committed by the offender for criminal liability to be incurred for harboring, concealing, or facilitating the escape of the offender, and the offender need not be the principal unlike paragraph 3, Article 19 of the Code. The subject acts may not bring about criminal liability under the Code, but under this decree. Such an offender if violating Presidential Decree No. 1829 is no longer an accessory. He is simply an offender without regard to the crime committed by the person assisted to escape. So in the problem, the standard of the Revised Penal Code, aunt is not criminally liable because crime is kidnapping, but under Presidential Decree No. 1829, the aunt is criminally liable but not as an accessory.
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Whether the accomplice and the accessory may be tried and convicted even before the principal is found guilty. There is an earlier Supreme Court ruling that the accessory and accomplice must be charged together with the principal and that if the latter be acquitted, the accomplice and the accessory shall not be criminally liable also, unless the acquittal is based on a defense which is personal only to the principal. Although this ruling may be correct if the facts charged do not make the principal criminally liable at all, because there is no crime committed. Yet it is not always true that the accomplice and accessory cannot be criminally liable without the principal first being convicted. Under Rule 110 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure, it is required that all those involved in the commission of the crime must be included in the information that may be filed. And in filing an information against the person involved in the commission of the crime, the law does not distinguish between principal, accomplice and accessory. All will be accused and whether a certain accused will be principal or accomplice or accessory will depend on what the evidence would show as to his involvement in the crime. In other words, the liability of the accused will depend on the quantum of evidence adduced by the prosecution against the particular accused. But the prosecutor must initiate proceedings versus the principal. Even if the principal is convicted, if the evidence presented against a supposed accomplice or a supposed accessory does not meet the required proof beyond reasonable doubt, then said accused will be acquitted. So the criminal liability of an accomplice or accessory does not depend on the criminal liability of the principal but depends on the quantum of evidence. But if the evidence shows that the act done does not constitute a crime and the principal is acquitted, then the supposed accomplice and accessory should also be acquitted. If there is no crime, then there is no criminal liability, whether principal, accomplice, or accessory. Under paragraph 3, Article 19, take note in the case of a civilian who harbors, conceals, or assists the escape of the principal, the law requires that the principal be found guilty of any of the specified crimes: treason, parricide, etc. The paragraph uses the particular word guilty. So this means that before the civilian can be held liable as an accessory, the principal must first be found guilty of the crime charged, either treason, parricide, murder, or attempt to take the life of the Chief Executive. If the principal is acquitted, that means he is not guilty and therefore, the civilian who harbored, concealed or assisted in the escape did not violate art. 19. That is as far as the Revised Penal Code is concerned. But not Presidential Decree No. 1829. This special law does not require that there be prior conviction. It is a malum prohibitum, no need for guilt, or knowledge of the crime. In Taer v. CA, accused received from his co-accused two stolen male carabaos. Conspiracy was not proven. Taer was held liable as an accessory in the crime of cattle rustling under Presidential Decree No. 533. [Taer should have been
liable for violation of the Anti-fencing law since cattle rustling is a form of theft or robbery of large cattle, except that he was not charged with fencing.] In Enrile v. Amin, a person charged with rebellion should not be separately charged under Presidential Decree No. 1829. The theory of absorption must not confine itself to common crimes but also to offenses punished under special laws which are perpetrated in furtherance of the political offense. PENALTIES Measures of prevention not considered as penalty The following are the measures of prevention or safety which are not considered penalties under Article 24: (1) The arrest and temporary detention of accused persons as well as their detention by reason of insanity or imbecility or illness requiring their confinement in a hospital. The commitment of a minor to any of the institutions mentioned in art. 80 for the purposes specified therein. Suspension from the employment or public office during the trial or in order to institute proceedings. Fines and other corrective measures which, in the exercise of their administrative disciplinary powers, superior officials may impose upon their subordinates. Deprivation of rights and reparations which the civil laws may establish in penal form.
(2) (3) (4)
(5)
Why does the Revised Penal Code specify that such detention shall not be a penalty but merely a preventive measure? This article gives justification for detaining the accused. Otherwise, the detention would violate the constitutional provision that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law. And also, the constitutional right of an accused to be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved. Repeal of Article 80 When may a minor be committed to a reformatory?
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If the minor is between 9 - 15 years old and acted with discernment, sentence must first be suspended under the following conditions: (1) (2) (3) Crime committed is not punishable by death or reclusion perpetua; He is availing of the benefit of suspension for the first time; He must still be a minor at the time of promulgation of the sentence.
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preventive imprisonment, he cannot be subjected to the treatment applicable to convicts unless he signs and agrees to be subjected to such disciplinary measures applicable to convicts. Detention prisoner has more freedom within the detention institution rather than those already convicted. The convicted prisoner suffers more restraints and hardship than detention prisoners. Under what circumstances may a detention prisoner be released, even though the proceedings against him are not yet terminated?
Correlating Article 24 with Article 29 Although under Article 24, the detention of a person accused of a crime while the case against him is being tried does not amount to a penalty, yet the law considers this as part of the imprisonment and generally deductible from the sentence. When will this credit apply? If the penalty imposed consists of a deprivation of liberty. Not all who have undergone preventive imprisonment shall be given a credit Under Article 24, preventive imprisonment of an accused who is not yet convicted, but by express provision of Article24 is not a penalty. Yet Article 29, if ultimately the accused is convicted and the penalty imposed involves deprivation of liberty, provides that the period during which he had undergone preventive detention will be deducted from the sentence, unless he is one of those disqualified under the law. So, if the accused has actually undergone preventive imprisonment, but if he has been convicted for two or more crimes whether he is a recidivist or not, or when he has been previously summoned but failed to surrender and so the court has to issue a warrant for his arrest, whatever credit he is entitled to shall be forfeited. If the offender is not disqualified from the credit or deduction provided for in Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code, then the next thing to determine is whether he signed an undertaking to abide by the same rules and regulations governing convicts. If he signed an undertaking to abide by the same rules and regulations governing convicts, then it means that while he is suffering from preventive imprisonment, he is suffering like a convict, that is why the credit is full. But if the offender did not sign an undertaking, then he will only be subjected to the rules and regulations governing detention prisoners. As such, he will only be given 80% or 4/5 of the period of his preventive detention. From this provision, one can see that the detention of the offender may subject him only to the treatment applicable to a detention prisoner or to the treatment applicable to convicts, but since he is not convicted yet, while he is under Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code has been amended by a Batas Pambansa effective that tool effect on September 20, 1980. This amendment is found in the Rules of Court, under the rules on bail in Rule 114 of the Rules on Criminal Procedure, the same treatment exactly is applied there. In the amendment, the law does not speak of credit. Whether the person is entitled to credit is immaterial. The discharge of the offender from preventive imprisonment or detention is predicated on the fact that even if he would be found guilty of the crime charged, he has practically served the sentence already, because he has been detained for a period already equal to if not greater than the maximum penalty that would be possibly be imposed on him if found guilty. If the crime committed is punishable only by destierro, the most the offender may be held under preventive imprisonment is 30 days, and whether the proceedings are terminated or not, such detention prisoner shall be discharged. Understand the amendment made to Article 29. This amendment has been incorporated under Rule 114 precisely to do away with arbitrary detention. Proper petition for habeas corpus must be filed to challenge the legality of the detention of the prisoner. Questions & Answers If the offender has already been released, what is the use of continuing the proceedings? The proceedings will determine whether the accused is liable or not. If he was criminally liable, it follows that he is also civilly liable. The civil liability must be determined. That is why the trial must go on. Duration of penalties
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Reclusion perpetua What is the duration of reclusion perpetua? Do not answer Article 27 to this question. The proper answer would be that reclusion perpetua has no duration because this is an indivisible penalty and indivisible penalties have no durations. Under Article 27, those sentenced to reclusion perpetua shall be pardoned after undergoing the penalty for 30 years, unless such person, by reason of his conduct or some other serious cause, shall be considered by the Chief Executive as unworthy of pardon. Under Article 70, which is the Three-Fold Rule, the maximum period shall in no case exceed 40 years. If a convict who is to serve several sentences could only be made to serve 40 years, with more reason, one who is sentenced to a singly penalty of reclusion perpetua should not be held for more than 40 years. The duration of 40 years is not a matter of provision of law; this is only by analogy. There is no provision of the Revised Penal Code that one sentenced to reclusion perpetua cannot be held in jail for 40 years and neither is there a decision to this effect. Destierro What is the duration of destierro? The duration of destierro is from six months and one day, to six year, which is the same as that of prision correcional and suspension. Destierro is a principal penalty. It is a punishment whereby a convict is vanished to a certan place and is prohibited form entering or coming near that place designated in the sentence, not less than 25 Kms.. However, the court cannot extend beyond 250 Kms. If the convict should enter the prohibited places, he commits the crime of evasion of service of sentence under Article 157. But if the convict himself would go further from which he is vanished by the court, there is no evasion of sentence because the 240-Km. limit is upon the authority of the court in vanishing the convict. Under the Revised Penal Code, destierro is the penalty imposed in the following situations: (1) When a legally married person who had surprised his or her spouse in the act of sexual intercourse with another and while in that act or immediately thereafter should kill or inflict serious physical injuries upon the other spouse, and/or the paramour or mistress. This is found in Article 247. (3) (4) (2)
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In the crime of grave threat or light threat, when the offender is required to put up a bond for good behavior but failed or refused to do so under Article 284, such convict shall be sentenced to destierro so that he would not be able to carry out his threat. In the crime of concubinage, the penalty prescribed for the concubine is destierro under Article 334. Where the penalty prescribed by law is arresto mayor, but the offender is entitled privileged mitigating circumstance and lowering the prescribed penalty by one degree, the penalty one degree lower is destierro. Thus, it shall be the one imposed.
Civil Interdiction Civil interdiction is an accessory penalty. offender during the time of his sentence: (1) (2) (3) (4) Civil interdiction shall deprive the
The rights of parental authority, or guardianship either as to the person or property of any ward; Marital authority; The right to manage his property; and The right to dispose of such property by any act or any conveyance inter vivos.
Can a convict execute a last will and testament? Yes. Primary classification of penalties Principal penalties and accessory penalties The penalties which are both principal and accessory penalties are the following: (1) (2) Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification; Perpetual or temporary special disqualification.
Questions & Answers 1. is the duration? If the penalty of suspension is imposed as an accessory, what
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disqualification from the rights of suffrage if the duration of said imprisonment shall exceed 18 months.
Its duration shall be that of the principal penalty. 2. If the penalty of temporary disqualification is imposed as principal penalty, what is the duration? The duration is six years and one day to 12 years. 3. disqualification? What do we refer to if it is perpetual or temporary (5)
Article 44. Arresto - suspension of the right to hold office and the right of suffrage during the term of the sentence.
There are accessory penalties which are true to other principal penalties. An example is the penalty of civil interdiction. This is an accessory penalty and, as provided in Article 34, a convict sentenced to civil interdiction suffers certain disqualification during the term of the sentence. One of the disqualifications is that of making a conveyance of his property inter vivos. Illustration:
We refer to the duration of the disqualification. 4. What do we refer to if it is special or absolute disqualification? A has been convicted and is serving the penalty of prision mayor. While serving sentence, he executed a deed of sale over his only parcel of land. A creditor moved to annul the sale on the ground that the convict is not qualified to execute a deed of conveyance inter vivos. If you were the judge, how would you resolve the move of the creditor to annul the sale? Civil interdiction is not an accessory penalty in prision mayor. The convict can convey his property. Questions & Answers What accessory penalty is common to all principal penalties? Confiscation or forfeiture on the instruments or proceeds of the crime. Bond to keep the peace One of the principal penalties common to the others is bond to keep the peace. There is no crime under the Revised Penal Code which carries this penalty. Bond for good behavior Bond for good behavior is prescribed by the Revised Penal Code for the crimes of grave threats and light threats under Article 234. You cannot find this penalty in Article 25 because Article 25 only provides for bond to keep the peace. Remember that no felony shall be punished by any penalty not prescribed by law prior to its commission pursuant to Article 21. Questions & Answers
We refer to the nature of the disqualification. The classification of principal and accessory is found in Article 25. In classifying the penalties as principal and accessory, what is meant by this is that those penalties classified as accessory penalties need not be stated in the sentence. The accessory penalties follow the principal penalty imposed for the crime as a matter of course. So in the imposition of the sentence, the court will specify only the principal penalty but that is not the only penalty which the offender will suffer. Penalties which the law considers as accessory to the prescribed penalty are automatically imposed even though they are not stated in the judgment. As to the particular penalties that follow a particular principal penalty, Articles 40 to 45 of the Revised Penal Code shall govern. If asked what are the accessory penalties, do not just state the accessory penalties. State the principal penalty and the corresponding accessory penalties. Penalties in which other accessory penalties are inherent: (1) (2) Article 40. Death - perpetual absolute disqualification, and civil interdiction during 30 years following date of sentence; Article 41. Reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal - civil interdiction for life or during the period of the sentence as the case may be, and perpetual absolute disqualification; Article 42. Prision mayor - temporary absolute disqualification perpetual special disqualification from the right of suffrage; Article 43. Prision correccional - suspension from public office, from the right to follow a profession or calling, and perpetual special
(3) (4)
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1. If bond to keep the peace is not the same as bond for good behavior, are they one and the same bond that differ only in name? No. The legal effect of each is entirely different. The legal effect of a failure to post a bond to keep the peace is imprisonment either for six months or 30 days, depending on whether the felony committed is grave or less grave on one hand, or it is light only on the other hand. The legal effect of failure to post a bond for good behavior is not imprisonment but destierro under Article 284. Thus, it is clear that the two bonds are not the same considering that the legal effect or the failure to put up the bond is not the same. Divisible and indivisible penalties When we talk of period, it is implying that the penalty is divisible. If, after being given a problem, you were asked to state the period in which the penalty of reclusion perpetua is to be imposed, remember that when the penalty is indivisible, there is no period. Do not talk of period, because when you talk of period, you are implying that the penalty is divisible because the period referred to is the minimum, the medium, and the maximum. If it is indivisible, there is no such thing as minimum, medium and maximum. The capital punishment You were asked to state whether you are in favor or against capital punishment. Understand that you are not taking the examination in Theology. Explain the issue on the basis of social utility of the penalty. Is it beneficial in deterring crimes or not? This should be the premise of your reasoning. Designation of penalty Since the principal penalties carry with them certain accessory penalties, the courts are not at liberty to use any designation of the principal penalty. So it was held that when the penalty should be reclusion perpetua, it is error for the court to use the term life imprisonment. In other words, the courts are not correct when they deviate from the technical designation of the principal penalty, because the moment they deviate from this designation, there will be no corresponding accessory penalties that will go with them. Illustration: When the judge sentenced the accused to the penalty of reclusion perpetua, but instead of saying reclusion perpetua, it sentenced the accused to life imprisonment, the designation is wrong. Reclusion perpetua as modified
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Before the enactment of Republic Act No. 7659, which made amendments to the Revised Penal Code, the penalty of reclusion perpetua had no fixed duration. The Revised Penal Code provides in Article 27 that the convict shall be pardoned after undergoing the penalty for thirty years, unless by reason of his conduct or some other serious cause, he is not deserving of pardon. As amended by Section 21 of Republic Act No. 7659, the same article now provides that the penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be from 20 years to 40 years. Because of this, speculations arose as to whether it made reclusion perpetua a divisible penalty. As we know, when a penalty has a fixed duration, it is said to be divisible and, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 65 and 76, should be divided into three equal portions to form one period of each of the three portions. Otherwise, if the penalty has no fixed duration, it is an indivisible penalty. The nature of the penalty as divisible or indivisible is decisive of the proper penalty to be imposed under the Revised Penal Code inasmuch as it determines whether the rules in Article 63 or the rules in Article 64 should be observed in fixing the penalty. Thus, consistent with the rule mentioned, the Supreme Court, by its First Division, applied Article 65 of the Code in imposing the penalty for rape in People v. Conrado Lucas, GR No. 108172-73, May 25, 1994. It divided the time included in the penalty of reclusion perpetua into three equal portions, with each portion composing a period as follows: Minimum - 20 years and one day, to 26 years and eight months; Medium - 26 years, eight months and one day, to 33 years and four months; Maximum - 34 years, four months and one day, to 40 years. Considering the aggravating circumstance of relationship, the Court sentenced the accused to imprisonment of 34 years, four months and one day of reclusion perpetua, instead of the straight penalty of reclusion perpetua imposed by the trial court. The appellee seasonably filed a motion for clarification to correct the duration of the sentence, because instead of beginning with 33 years, four months and one day, it was stated as 34 years, four months and one day. The issue of whether the amendment of Article 27 made reclusion perpetua a divisible penalty was raised, and because the issue is one of first impression and momentous importance, the First Division referred the motion to the Court en banc. In a resolution promulgated on January 9, 1995, the Supreme Court en banc held that reclusion perpetua shall remain as an indivisible penalty. To this end, the resolution states: After deliberating on the motion and re-examining the legislation history of RA 7659, the Court concludes that although Section 17 of RA 7659 has fixed the duration of
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Reclusion Perpetua from twenty years (20) and one (1) to forty 40 years, there was no clear legislative intent to alter its original classification as an indivisible penalty. It shall then remain as an indivisible penalty. Verily, if reclusion perpetua was classified as a divisible penalty, then Article 63 of the Revised Penal Code would lose its reason and basis for existence. To illustrate, the first paragraph of Section 20 of the amended RA No. 6425 provides for the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death whenever the dangerous drugs involved are of any of the quantities stated herein. If Article 63 of the Code were no longer applicable because reclusion perpetua is supposed to be a divisible penalty, then there would be no statutory rules for determining when either reclusion perpetua or death should be the imposable penalty. In fine, there would be no occasion for imposing reclusion perpetua as the penalty in drug cases, regardless of the attendant modifying circumstances. Now then, if Congress had intended to reclassify reclusion perpetua as divisible penalty, then it should have amended Article 63 and Article 76 of the Revised Penal Code. The latter is the law on what are considered divisible penalties under the Code and what should be the duration of the periods thereof. There are, as well, other provisions of the Revised Penal Code involving reclusion perpetua, such as Article 41 on the accessory penalties thereof and paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 61, which have not been touched by a corresponding amendment. Ultimately, the question arises: What then may be the reason for the amendment fixing the duration of reclusion perpetua? This question was answered in the same case of People v. Lucas by quoting pertinent portion of the decision in People v. Reyes, 212 SCRA 402, thus: The imputed duration of thirty (30) years for reclusion perpetua, thereof, is only to serve as the basis for determining the convicts eligibility for pardon or for the application of the three-fold rule in the service of penalties. Since, however, in all the graduated scales of penalties in the Code, as set out in Article 25, 70 and 21, reclusion perpetua is the penalty immediately next higher to reclusion temporal, it follows by necessary implication that the minimum of reclusion perpetua is twenty (20) years and one (1) day with a maximum duration thereafter to last for the rest of the convicts natural life, although, pursuant to Article 70, it appears that the maximum period for the service of penalties shall not exceed forty (40) years. It would be legally absurd
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and violative of the scales of penalties in the Code to reckon the minimum of Reclusion Perpetua at thirty (30) years since there would thereby be a resultant lacuna whenever the penalty exceeds the maximum twenty (20) years of Reclusion Temporal but is less than thirty (30) years.
Innovations on the imposition of the death penalty Aside form restoring the death penalty for certain heinous crimes, Republic Act No. 7659 made innovations on the provisions of the Revised Penal Code regarding the imposition of the death penalty: (1) Article 47 has been reworded to expressly include among the instances where the death penalty shall not be imposed, the case of an offender who is below 18 years old at the time of the commission of the offense. But even without this amendment, the death penalty may not be meted out on an offender who was below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime because Article 68 the lowers the imposable penalty upon such offenders by at least one degree than that prescribed for the crime. In the matter of executing the death penalty, Article 81 has been amended and, thus, directs that the manner of putting the convict to death by electrocution shall be changed to gas poisoning as soon as the facilities are provided, and the sentence shall be carried out not later that one year after the finality of judgment. The original provision of Article 83, anent the suspension of the execution of the death penalty for three years if the convict was a woman, has been deleted and instead, limits such suspension to last while the woman was pregnant and within one year after delivery. Subsidiary penalty Is subsidiary penalty an accessory penalty? No. If the convict does not want to pay fine and has so many friends and wants to prolong his stay in jail, can he stay there and not pay fine? No. After undergoing subsidiary penalty and the convict is already released from jail and his financial circumstances improve, can he be made to pay? Yes, for the full amount with deduction. Article 39 deals with subsidiary penalty. There are two situations there: (1) When there is a principal penalty of imprisonment or any other principal penalty and it carries with it a fine; and
(2)
(3)
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(2)
When penalty is only a fine.
Therefore, there shall be no subsidiary penalty for the non-payment of damages to the offended party. This subsidiary penalty is one of important matter under the title of penalty. A subsidiary penalty is not an accessory penalty. Since it is not an accessory penalty, it must be expressly stated in the sentence, but the sentence does not specify the period of subsidiary penalty because it will only be known if the convict cannot pay the fine. The sentence will merely provide that in case of non-payment of the fine, the convict shall be required to save subsidiary penalty. It will then be the prison authority who will compute this. So even if subsidiary penalty is proper in a case, if the judge failed to state in the sentence that the convict shall be required to suffer subsidiary penalty in case of insolvency to pay the fine, that convict cannot be required to suffer the accessory penalty. This particular legal point is a bar problem. Therefore, the judgment of the court must state this. If the judgment is silent, he cannot suffer any subsidiary penalty. The subsidiary penalty is not an accessory penalty that follows the principal penalty as a matter of course. It is not within the control of the convict to pay the fine or not and once the sentence becomes final and executory and a writ of execution is issued to collect the fine, if convict has property to levy upon, the same shall answer for the fine, whether he likes it or not. It must be that the convict is insolvent to pay the fine. That means that the writ of execution issued against the property of the convict, if any, is returned unsatisfied. In People v. Subido, it was held that the convict cannot choose not to serve, or not to pay the fine and instead serve the subsidiary penalty. A subsidiary penalty will only be served if the sheriff should return the execution for the fine on the property of the convict and he does not have the properties to satisfy the writ. Questions & Answers The penalty imposed by the judge is fine only. The sheriff then tried to levy the property of the defendant after it has become final and executory, but it was returned unsatisfied. The court then issued an order for said convict to suffer subsidiary penalty. The convict was detained, for which reason he filed a petition for habeas corpus contending that his detention is illegal. Will the petition prosper? Yes. The judgment became final without statement as to subsidiary penalty, so that even if the convict has no money or property to satisfy the fine, he cannot suffer subsidiary penalty because the latter is not an accessory and so it must be expressly stated. If the court overlooked to provide for
subsidiary penalty in the sentence and its attention was later called to that effect, thereafter, it tried to modify the sentence to include subsidiary penalty after period to appeal had already elapsed, the addition of subsidiary penalty will be null and void. This is tantamount to double jeopardy. If the fine is prescribed with the penalty of imprisonment or any deprivation of liberty, such imprisonment should not be higher than six years or prision correccional. Otherwise, there is no subsidiary penalty. III. (1) When is subsidiary penalty applied If the subsidiary penalty prescribed for the non-payment of fine which goes with the principal penalty, the maximum duration of the subsidiary penalty is one year, so there is no subsidiary penalty that goes beyond one year. But this will only be true if the one year period is higher than 1/3 of the principal penalty, the convict cannot be made to undergo subsidiary penalty more than 1/3 of the duration of the principal penalty and in no case will it be more than 1 year - get 1/3 of the principal penalty - whichever is lower. If the subsidiary penalty is to be imposed for non payment of fine and the principal penalty imposed be fine only, which is a single penalty, that means it does not go with another principal penalty, the most that the convict will be required to undergo subsidiary imprisonment is six months, if the felony committed is grave or less grave, otherwise, if the felony committed is slight, the maximum duration of the subsidiary penalty is only 15 days.
(2)
There are some who use the term subsidiary imprisonment. The term is wrong because the penalty is not only served by imprisonment. The subsidiary penalty follows the nature of the principal penalty. If the principal penalty is destierro, this being a divisible penalty, and a penalty with a fixed duration, the non-payment of the fine will bring about subsidiary penalty. This being a restriction of liberty with a fixed duration under Article 39 for the nonpayment of fine that goes with the destierro, the convict will be required to undergo subsidiary penalty and it will also be in the form of destierro. Illustration: A convict was sentenced to suspension and fine. This is a penalty where a public officer anticipates public duties, he entered into the performance of public office even before he has complied with the required formalities. Suppose the convict cannot pay the fine, may he be required to undergo subsidiary penalty? Yes, because the penalty of suspension has a fixed duration. Under Article 27, suspension and destierro have the same duration as prision correccional. So the duration does not exceed six years. Since it is a penalty with a fixed
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duration under Article 39, when there is a subsidiary penalty, such shall be 1/3 of the period of suspension which in no case beyond one year. But the subsidiary penalty will be served not by imprisonment but by continued suspension. If the penalty is public censure and fine even if the public censure is a light penalty, the convict cannot be required to pay the fine for subsidiary penalty for the non-payment of the fine because public censure is a penalty that has no fixed duration. Do not consider the totality of the imprisonment the convict is sentenced to but consider the totality or the duration of the imprisonment that the convict will be required to serve under the Three-Fold Rule. If the totality of the imprisonment under this rule does not exceed six years, then, even if the totality of all the sentences without applying the Three-Fold Rule will go beyond six years, the convict shall be required to undergo subsidiary penalty if he could not pay the fine. Illustration: Illustration: A collector of NAWASA collected from 50 houses within a certain locality. When he was collecting NAWASA bills, the charges of all these consumers was a minimum of 10. The collector appropriated the amount collected and so was charged with estafa. He was convicted. Penalty imposed was arresto mayor and a fine of P200.00 in each count. If you were the judge, what penalty would you impose? May the convict be required to undergo subsidiary penalty in case he is insolvent to pay the fine? The Three-Fold Rule should not applied by the court. In this case of 50 counts of estafa, the penalty imposed was arresto mayor and a fine of P200.00. Arresto mayor + P200.00 x 50. Arresto Mayor is six months x 50 = 25 years. P200.00 x 50 = P10,000.00. Thus, I would impose a penalty of arresto mayor and a fine of P200.00 multiplied by 50 counts and state further that as a judge, I am not in the position to apply the Three-Fold Rule because the ThreeFold Rule is to be given effect when the convict is already serving sentence in the penitentiiary. It is the prison authority who will apply the Three-Fold Rule. As far as the court is concerned, that will be the penalty to be imposed. For the purposes of subsidiary penalty, apply the Three-Fold Rule if the penalty is arresto mayor and a fine of P200.00 multiplied by 3. This means one year and six months only. So, applying the Three- Fold Rule, the penalty does not go beyond six years. Hence, for the non- payment of the fine of P10,000.00, the convict shall be required to undergo subsidiary penalty. This is because the imprisonment that will be served will not go beyond six years. It will only be one year and six months, since in the service of the sentence, the Three-Fold Rule will apply. It is clearly provided under Article 39 that if the means of the convict should improve, even if he has already served subsidiary penalty, he shall still be
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required to pay the fine and there is no deduction for that amount which the convict has already served by way of subsidiary penalty. Articles 63 and 64 If crime committed is parricide, penalty is reclusion perpetua. The accused, after committing parricide, voluntarily surrendered and pleaded guilty of the crime charged upon arraignment. It was also established that he was intoxicated, and no aggravating circumstances were present. What penalty would you impose? Reclusion perpetua, because it is an indivisible penalty. When there are two or more mitigating circumstances and there is no aggravating circumstance, penalty to be imposed shall be one degree lower to be imposed in the proper period. Do not apply this when there is one aggravating circumstance.
There are about four mitigating circumstances and one aggravating circumstance. Court offsets the aggravating circumstance against the mitigating circumstance and there still remains three mitigating circumstances. Because of that, the judge lowered the penalty by one degree. Is the judge correct? No. In such a case when there are aggravating circumstances, no matter how many mitigating circumstances there are, after offsetting, do not go down any degree lower. The penalty prescribed by law will be the penalty to be imposed, but in the minimum period. Cannot go below the minimum period when there is an aggravating circumstance. Go into the lowering of the penalty by one degree if the penalty is divisible. So do not apply the rule in paragraph 5 of Article 64 to a case where the penalty is divisible. Article 66 When there are mitigating circumstance and aggravating circumstance and the penalty is only fine, when it is only ordinary mitigating circumstance and aggravating circumstance, apply Article 66. Because you determine the imposable fine on the basis of the financial resources or means of the offender. But if the penalty would be lowered by degree, there is a privileged mitigating circumstance or the felony committed is attempted or frustrated, provided it is not a light felony against persons or property, because if it is a light felony and punishable by fine, it is not a crime at all unless it is consummated. So, if it is attempted or frustrated, do not go one degree lower because it is not
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punishable unless it is a light felony against person or property where the imposable penalty will be lowered by one degree or two degrees. Penalty prescribed to a crime is lowered by degrees in the following cases: (1) When the crime is only attempted or frustrated If it is frustrated, penalty is one degree lower than that prescribed by law. If it is attempted, penalty is two degrees lower than that prescribed by law. This is so because the penalty prescribed by law for a crime refers to the consummated stage. (2) When the offender is an accomplice or accessory only Penalty is one degree lower in the case of an accomplice. Penalty is two degrees lower in the case of an accessory. This is so because the penalty prescribed by law for a given crime refers to the consummated stage. (3) When there is a privilege mitigating circumstance in favor of the offender, it will lower the penalty by one or two degrees than that prescribed by law depending on what the particular provision of the Revised Penal Code states. When the penalty prescribed for the crime committed is a divisible penalty and there are two or more ordinary mitigating circumstances and no aggravating circumstances whatsoever, the penalty next lower in degree shall be the one imposed. Whenever the provision of the Revised Penal Code specifically lowers the penalty by one or two degrees than what is ordinarily prescribed for the crime committed. (3)
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In Article 27, with respect to the range of each penalty, the range of arresto menor follows arresto mayor, since arresto menor is one to 30 days or one month, while arresto mayor is one month and one day to six months. On the other hand, the duration of destierro is the same as prision correccional which is six months and one day to six years. But be this as it is, under Article 71, in the scale of penalties graduated according to degrees, arresto mayor is higher than destierro. In homicide under Article 249, the penalty is reclusion temporal. One degree lower, if homicide is frustrated, or there is an accomplice participating in homicide, is prision mayor, and two degrees lower is prision correccional. This is true if the penalty prescribed by the Revised Penal Code is a whole divisible penalty -- one degree or 2 degrees lower will also be punished as a whole. But generally, the penalties prescribed by the Revised Penal Code are only in periods, like prision correcional minimum, or prision correcional minimum to medium. Although the penalty is prescribed by the Revised Penal Code as a period, such penalty should be understood as a degree in itself and the following rules shall govern: (1) When the penalty prescribed by the Revised Code is made up of a period, like prision correccional medium, the penalty one degree lower is prision correccional minimum, and the penalty two degrees lower is arresto mayor maximum. In other words, each degree will be made up of only one period because the penalty prescribed is also made up only of one period. When the penalty prescribed by the Code is made up of two periods of a given penalty, every time such penalty is lowered by one degree you have to go down also by two periods. Illustration: If the penalty prescribed for the crime is prision correccional medium to maximum, the penalty one degree lower will be arresto mayor maximum to prision correccional minimum, and the penalty another degree lower will be arresto mayor minimum to medium. Every degree will be composed of two periods. When the penalty prescribed by the Revised Penal Code is made up of three periods of different penalties, every time you go down one degree lower, you have to go down by three periods. Illustration: The penalty prescribed by the Revised Penal Code is prision mayor maximum to reclusion temporal medium, the penalty one degree lower is prision correccional maximum to prision mayor medium. Another
(2)
(4)
(5)
Penalty commonly imposed by the Revised Penal Code may be by way of imprisonment or by way of fine or, to a limited extent, by way of destierro or disqualification, whether absolute or special. In the matter of lowering the penalty by degree, the reference is Article 71. It is necessary to know the chronology under Article 71 by simply knowing the scale. Take note that destierro comes after arresto mayor so the penalty one degree lower than arresto mayor is not arresto menor, but destierro. Memorize the scale in Article 71.
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degree lower will be arresto mayor maximum to prision correccional medium. These rules have nothing to do with mitigating or aggravating circumstances. These rules refer to the lowering of penalty by one or two degrees. As to how mitigating or aggravating circumstances may affect the penalty, the rules are found in Articles 63 and 64. Article 63 governs when the penalty prescribed by the Revised Penal Code is indivisible. Article 64 governs when the penalty prescribed by the Revised Penal Code is divisible. When the penalty is indivisible, no matter how many ordinary mitigating circumstances there are, the prescribed penalty is never lowered by degree. It takes a privileged mitigating circumstance to lower such penalty by degree. On the other hand, when the penalty prescribed by the Revised Penal Code is divisible, such penalty shall be lowered by one degree only but imposed in the proper period, when there are two or more ordinary mitigating circumstance and there is no aggravating circumstance whatsoever. Article 75 Fines With respect to the penalty of fine, if the fine has to be lowered by degree either because the felony committed is only attempted or frustrated or because there is an accomplice or an accessory participation, the fine is lowered by deducting 1/4 of the maximum amount of the fine from such maximum without changing the minimum amount prescribed by law. Illustration: If the penalty prescribed is a fine ranging from P200.00 to P500.00, but the felony is frustrated so that the penalty should be imposed one degree lower, 1/4 of P500.00 shall be deducted therefrom. This is done by deducting P125.00 from P500.00, leaving a difference of P375.00. The penalty one degree lower is P375.00. To go another degree lower, P125.00 shall again be deducted from P375.00 and that would leave a difference of P250.00. Hence, the penalty another degree lower is a fine ranging from P200.00 to P250.00. If at all, the fine has to be lowered further, it cannot go lower than P200.00. So, the fine will be imposed at P200.00. This rule applies when the fine has to be lowered by degree. Article 66 In so far as ordinary mitigating or aggravating circumstance would affect the penalty which is in the form of a fine, Article 66 of the Revised Penal Code shall govern. Under this article, it is discretionary upon the court to apply the fine taking into consideration the financial means of the offender to pay the same. In other words, it is not only the mitigating and/or aggravating circumstances that the court shall take into consideration, but primarily, the financial capability of the offender to pay the fine. For the same crime, the penalty upon
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an accused who is poor may be less than the penalty upon an accused committing the same crime but who is wealthy . For instance, when there are two offenders who are co-conspirators to a crime, and their penalty consists of a fine only, and one of them is wealthy while the other is a pauper, the court may impose a higher penalty upon the wealthy person and a lower fine for the pauper. Penalty for murder under the Revised Penal Code is reclusion temporal maximum to death. So, the penalty would be reclusion temporal maximum reclusion perpetua death. This penalty made up of three periods. The Three-Fold Rule Under this rule, when a convict is to serve successive penalties, he will actually serve the penalties imposed by law. Instead, the most severe of penalties imposed on him shall be multiplied by three and the period will be only term of the penalty to be served by him. However, in no case should penalty exceed 40 years. not the the the
This rule is intended for the benefit of the convict and so, you will only apply this provided the sum total of all the penalties imposed would be greater than the product of the most severe penalty multiplied by three but in no case will the penalties to be served by the convict be more than 40 years. Although this rule is known as the Three-Fold rule, you cannot actually apply this if the convict is to serve only three successive penalties. The Three-Fold Rule can only be applied if the convict is to serve four or more sentences successively. If the sentences would be served simultaneously, the Three-Fold rule does not govern. The chronology of the penalties as provided in Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code shall be followed. It is in the service of the penalty, not in the imposition of the penalty, that Three-Fold rule is to be applied. The three-Fold rule will apply whether sentences are the product of one information in one court, whether sentences are promulgated in one day or whether the sentences promulgated by different courts on different days. What is material is that convict shall serve more than three successive sentences. the the the are the
For purposes of the Three-Fold Rule, even perpetual penalties are taken into account. So not only penalties with fixed duration, even penalties without any fixed duration or indivisible penalties are taken into account. For purposes of the Three-Fold rule, indivisible penalties are given equivalent of 30 years. If the penalty is perpetual disqualification, it will be given and equivalent duration of 30 years, so that if he will have to suffer several perpetual disqualification, under the Three-Fold rule, you take the most severe and multiply it by three.
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The Three-Fold rule does not apply to the penalty prescribed but to the penalty imposed as determined by the court. Illustration: Penalties imposed are Purpose One prision correcional minimum 2 years and 4 months One arresto mayor One prision mayor - 1 month and 1 day to 6 months - 6 years and 1 day to 12 years
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It applies only when the penalty served is imprisonment. imprisonment, then it does not apply.
If not by
Do not commit the mistake of applying the Three- Fold Rule in this case. Never apply the Three-Fold rule when there are only three sentences. Even if you add the penalties, you can never arrive at a sum higher than the product of the most severe multiplied by three. The common mistake is, if given a situation, whether the Three-Fold Rule could be applied. If asked, if you were the judge, what penalty would you impose, for purposes of imposing the penalty, the court is not at liberty to apply the Three-Fold Rule, whatever the sum total of penalty for each crime committed, even if it would amount to 1,000 years or more. It is only when the convict is serving sentence that the prison authorities should determine how long he should stay in jail. Illustration: A district engineer was sentenced by the court to a term of 914 years in prison. A person was sentenced to three death sentences. Significance: If ever granted pardon for 1 crime, the two remaining penalties must still be executed. This rule will apply only if sentences are to be served successively. Act No. 4013 (Indeterminate Sentence Law), as amended Three things to know about the Indeterminate Sentence Law: (1) (2) (3) Its purpose; Instances when it does not apply; and How it operates
The purpose of the Indeterminate Sentence law is to avoid prolonged imprisonment, because it is proven to be more destructive than constructive to the offender. So, the purpose of the Indeterminate Sentence Law in shortening the possible detention of the convict in jail is to save valuable human resources. In other words, if the valuable human resources were allowed prolonged confinement in jail, they would deteriorate. Purpose is to preserve economic usefulness for these people for having committed a crime -- to reform them rather than to deteriorate them and, at the same time, saving the government expenses of maintaining the convicts on a prolonged confinement in jail. If the crime is a violation of the Revised Penal Code, the court will impose a sentence that has a minimum and maximum. The maximum of the indeterminate sentence will be arrived at by taking into account the attendant mitigating and/or aggravating circumstances according to Article 64 of the Revised Penal Code. In arriving at the minimum of the indeterminate sentence, the court will take into account the penalty prescribed for the crime and go one degree lower. Within the range of one degree lower, the court will fix the minimum for the indeterminate sentence, and within the range of the penalty arrived at as the maximum in the indeterminate sentence, the court will fix the maximum of the sentence. If there is a privilege mitigating circumstance which has been taken in consideration in fixing the maximum of the indeterminate sentence, the minimum shall be based on the penalty as reduced by the privilege mitigating circumstance within the range of the penalty next lower in degree. If the crime is a violation of a special law, in fixing the maximum of the indeterminate sentence, the court will impose the penalty within the range of the penalty prescribed by the special law, as long as it will not exceed the limit of the penalty. In fixing the minimum, the court can fix a penalty anywhere within the range of penalty prescribed by the special law, as long as it will not be less than the minimum limit of the penalty under said law. No mitigating and aggravating circumstances are taken into account. The minimum and the maximum referred to in the Indeterminate Sentence Law are not periods. So, do not say, maximum or minimum period. For the purposes of the indeterminate Sentence Law, use the term minimum to refer to the duration of the sentence which the convict shall serve as a minimum, and when we say maximum, for purposes of ISLAW, we refer to the maximum limit of the duration that the convict may be held in jail. We are not referring to any period of the penalty as enumerated in Article 71.
Indeterminate Sentence Law governs whether the crime is punishable under the Revised Penal Code or a special Law. It is not limited to violations of the Revised Penal Code.
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Courts are required to fix a minimum and a maximum of the sentence that they are to impose upon an offender when found guilty of the crime charged. So, whenever the Indeterminate Sentence Law is applicable, there is always a minimum and maximum of the sentence that the convict shall serve. If the crime is punished by the Revised Penal Code, the law provides that the maximum shall be arrived at by considering the mitigating and aggravating circumstances in the commission of the crime according to the proper rules of the Revised Penal Code. To fix the maximum, consider the mitigating and aggravating circumstances according to the rules found in Article 64. This means (1) Penalties prescribed by the law for the crime committed shall be imposed in the medium period if no mitigating or aggravating circumstance; If there is aggravating circumstance, no mitigating, penalty shall be imposed in the maximum; If there is mitigating circumstance, no aggravating, penalty shall be in the minimum; If there are several mitigating and aggravating circumstances, they shall offset against each other. Whatever remains, apply the rules. If there are two or more mitigating circumstance and no aggravating circumstance, penalty next lower in degree shall be the one imposed.
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In one Supreme Court ruling, it was held that for purposes of applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the penalty prescribed by the Revised Penal Code and not that which may be imposed by court. This ruling, however, is obviously erroneous. This is so because such an interpretation runs contrary to the rule of pro reo, which provides that the penal laws should always be construed an applied in a manner liberal or lenient to the offender. Therefore, the rule is, in applying the Indetermiante Sentence Law, it is that penalty arrived at by the court after applying the mitigating and aggravating circumstances that should be the basis. Crimes punished under special law carry only one penalty; there are no degree or periods. Moreover, crimes under special law do not consider mitigating or aggravating circumstance present in the commission of the crime. So in the case of statutory offense, no mitigating and no aggravating circumstances will be taken into account. Just the same, courts are required in imposing the penalty upon the offender to fix a minimum that the convict should serve, and to set a maximum as the limit of that sentence. Under the law, when the crime is punished under a special law, the court may fix any penalty as the maximum without exceeding the penalty prescribed by special law for the crime committed. In the same manner, courts are given discretion to fix a minimum anywhere within the range of the penalty prescribed by special law, as long as it will not be lower than the penalty prescribed. Disqualification may be divided into three, according to
(2) (3) (4) (5)
(1) (2) (3)
The time committed; The penalty imposed; and The offender involved.
Rule under Art 64 shall apply in determining the maximum but not in determining the minimum. In determining the applicable penalty according to the Indeterminate Sentence Law, there is no need to mention the number of years, months and days; it is enough that the name of the penalty is mentioned while the Indeterminate Sentence Law is applied. To fix the minimum and the maximum of the sentence, penalty under the Revised Penal Code is not the penalty to be imposed by court because the court must apply the Indeterminate Sentence Law. The attendant mitigating and/or aggravating circumstances in the commission of the crime are taken into consideration only when the maximum of the penalty is to be fixed. But in so far as the minimum is concerned, the basis of the penalty prescribed by the Revised Penal Code, and go one degree lower than that. But penalty one degree lower shall be applied in the same manner that the maximum is also fixed based only on ordinary mitigating circumstances. This is true only if the mitigating circumstance taken into account is only an ordinary mitigating circumstance. If the mitigating circumstance is privileged, you cannot follow the law in so far as fixing the minimum of the indeterminate sentence is concerned; otherwise, it may happen that the maximum of the indeterminate sentence is lower than its minimum.
The Indeterminate Sentence Law shall not apply to: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Persons convicted of offense punishable with death penalty or life imprisonment; Persons convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason; Persons convicted espionage; of misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition,
Persons convicted of piracy; Persons who are habitual delinquents; Persons who sentence; shall have escaped from confinement or evaded
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(7) (8)
Those who have been granted conditional pardon by the Chief Executive and shall have violated the term thereto; Those whose maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed one year, but not to those already sentenced by final judgment at the time of the approval of Indeterminate Sentence Law.
Exception: If the earlier conviction refers to a crime the penalty of which does not exceed 30 days imprisonment or a fine of not more than P200.00, such convict is not disqualified of the benefit of probation. So even if he would be convicted subsequently of a crime embraced in the same title of the Revised Penal Code as that of the earlier conviction, he is not disqualified from probation provided that the penalty of the current crime committed does not go beyond six years and the nature of the crime committed by him is not against public order, national security or subversion. Although a person may be eligible for probation, the moment he perfects an appeal from the judgment of conviction, he cannot avail of probation anymore. So the benefit of probation must be invoked at the earliest instance after conviction. He should not wait up to the time when he interposes an appeal or the sentence has become final and executory. The idea is that probation has to be invoked at the earliest opportunity. An application for probation is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the trial court that renders the judgment. For the offender to apply in such court, he should not appeal such judgment. Once he appeals, regardless of the purpose of the appeal, he will be disqualified from applying for Probation, even though he may thereafter withdraw his appeal. If the offender would appeal the conviction of the trial court and the appellate court reduced the penalty to say, less than six years, that convict can still file an application for probation, because the earliest opportunity for him to avail of probation came only after judgment by the appellate court. Whether a convict who is otherwise qualified for probation may be give the benefit of probation or not, the courts are always required to conduct a hearing. If the court denied the application for probation without the benefit of the hearing, where as the applicant is not disqualified under the provision of the Probation Law, but only based on the report of the probation officer, the denial is correctible by certiorari, because it is an act of the court in excess of jurisdiction or without jurisdiction, the order denying the application therefore is null and void. Probation is intended to promote the correction and rehabilitation of an offender by providing him with individualized treatment; to provide an opportunity for the reformation of a penitent offender which might be less probable if he were to serve a prison sentence; to prevent the commission of offenses; to decongest our jails; and to save the government much needed finance for maintaining convicts in jail Probation is only a privilege. So even if the offender may not be disqualified of probation, yet the court believes that because of the crime committed it was not advisable to give probation because it would depreciate the effect of the crime, the court may refuse or deny an application for probation.
Although the penalty prescribed for the felony committed is death or reclusion perpetua, if after considering the attendant circumstances, the imposable penalty is reclusion temporal or less, the Indeterminate Sentence Law applies (People v. Cempron, 187 SCRA 278). Presidential Decree No. 968 (Probation Law) Among the different grounds of partial extinction of criminal liability, the most important is probation. Probation is a manner of disposing of an accused who have been convicted by a trial court by placing him under supervision of a probation officer, under such terms and conditions that the court may fix. This may be availed of before the convict begins serving sentence by final judgment and provided that he did not appeal anymore from conviction. Without regard to the nature of the crime, only those whose penalty does not exceed six years of imprisonment are those qualified for probation. If the penalty is six years plus one day, he is no longer qualified for probation. If the offender was convicted of several offenses which were tried jointly and one decision was rendered where multiple sentences imposed several prison terms as penalty, the basis for determining whether the penalty disqualifies the offender from probation or not is the term of the individual imprisonment and not the totality of all the prison terms imposed in the decision. So even if the prison term would sum up to more than six years, if none of the individual penalties exceeds six years, the offender is not disqualified by such penalty from applying for probation. On the other hand, without regard to the penalty, those who are convicted of subversion or any crime against the public order are not qualified for probation. So know the crimes under Title III, Book 2 of the Revised Penal Code. Among these crimes is Alarms and Scandals, the penalty of which is only arresto menor or a fine. Under the amendment to the Probation Law, those convicted of a crime against public order regardless of the penalty are not qualified for probation. May a recidivist be given the benefit of Probation Law? As a general rule, no.
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Generally, the courts do not grant an application for probation for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Law, because of the prevalence of the crime. So it is not along the purpose of probation to grant the convict the benefit thereof, just the individual rehabilitation of the offender but also the best interest of the society and the community where the convict would be staying, if he would be released on probation. To allow him loose may bring about a lack of respect of the members of the community to the enforcement of penal law. In such a case, the court even if the crime is probationable may still deny the benefit of probation. Consider not only the probationable crime, but also the probationable penalty. If it were the non-probationable crime, then regardless of the penalty, the convict cannot avail of probation. Generally, the penalty which is not probationable is any penalty exceeding six years of imprisonment. Offenses which are not probationable are those against natural security, those against public order and those with reference to subversion. Persons who have been granted of the benefit of probation cannot avail thereof for the second time. Probation is only available once and this may be availed only where the convict starts serving sentence and provided he has not perfected an appeal. If the convict perfected an appeal, he forfeits his right to apply for probation. As far as offenders who are under preventive imprisonment, that because a crime committed is not bailable or the crime committed, although bailable, they cannot afford to put up a bail, upon promulgation of the sentence, naturally he goes back to detention, that does not mean that they already start serving the sentence even after promulgation of the sentence, sentence will only become final and executory after the lapse of the 15-day period, unless the convict has waived expressly his right to appeal or otherwise, he has partly started serving sentence and in that case, the penalty will already be final and exeuctory, no right to probation can be applied for. Probation shall be denied if the court finds: (1) (2) (3) That the offender is in need of correctional treatment that can be provided most effectively by his commitment to an institution; That there is undue risk that during the period of probation the offender will commit another crime; or
IV. (1)
Mandatory conditions: The convict must report to the Probation Officer (PO) designated in the court order approving his application for Probation within 72 hours from receipt of Notice of such order approving his application; and The convict, as a probationer, must report to the PO at least once a month during the period of probation unless sooner required by the PO.
(2)
These conditions being mandatory, the moment any of these is violate, the probation is cancelled. Discretionary conditions: The trial court which approved the application for probation may impose any condition which may be constructive to the correction of the offender, provided the same would not violate the constitutional rights of the offender and subject to this two restrictions: (1) the conditions imposed should not be unduly restrictive of the probationer; and (2) such condition should not be incompatible with the freedom of conscience of the probationer EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY Always provide two classifications when answering this question. Criminal liability is totally extinguished as follows: (1) By the death of the convict as to personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability therefore is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment By service of sentence; By amnesty which completely extinguished the penalty and all its effects; By absolute pardon; By prescription of the crime; By prescription of the penalty; By the marriage of the offended women as in the crimes of rape, abduction, seduction and acts of lasciviousness.
(2) (3) (4)
Probation will depreciate the seriousness of the crime. (5) (6)
The probation law imposes two kinds of conditions: (1) (2) Mandatory conditions; and (7) Discretionary conditions.
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Criminal liability is partially extinguished as follows: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) By conditional pardon; By commutation of sentence; For good conduct, allowances which the culprit may earn while he is serving sentence; Parole; and Probation. Total extinction of criminal liability Among the grounds for total extinction as well as those for partial extinction, you cannot find among them the election to public office. In one case, a public official was charged before the Sandiganbayan for violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. During the ensuing election, he was nevertheless reelected by the constituents, one of the defenses raised was that of condonation of the crime by his constituents, that his constituents have pardoned him. The Supreme Court ruled that the re-election to public office is not one of the grounds by which criminal liability is extinguished. This is only true to administrative cases but not criminal cases. Death of the offender Where the offender dies before final judgment, his death extinguishes both his criminal and civil liabilities. So while a case is on appeal, the offender dies, the case on appeal will be dismissed. The offended party may file a separate civil action under the Civil Code if any other basis for recovery of civil liability exists as provided under Art 1157 Civil Code. (People v. Bayotas, decided on September 2, 1994) Amnesty and pardon The effects of amnesty as well as absolute pardon are not the same. Amnesty erases not only the conviction but also the crime itself. So that if an offender was convicted for rebellion and he qualified for amnesty, and so he was given an amnesty, then years later he rebelled again and convicted, is he a recidivist? No. Because the amnesty granted to him erased not only the conviction but also the effects of the conviction itself. Suppose, instead of amnesty, what was given was absolute pardon, then years later, the offended was again captured and charged for rebellion, he was convicted, is he a recidivist?
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Yes. Pardon, although absolute does not erase the effects of conviction. Pardon only excuses the convict from serving the sentence. There is an exception to this and that is when the pardon was granted when the convict had already served the sentence such that there is no more service of sentence to be executed then the pardon shall be understood as intended to erase the effects of the conviction. So if the convict has already served the sentence and in spite of that he was given a pardon that pardon will cover the effects of the crime and therefore, if he will be subsequently convicted for a felony embracing the same title as that crime, he cannot be considered a recidivist, because the pardon wipes out the effects of the crime. But if he was serving sentence when he was pardoned, that pardon will not wipe out the effects of the crime, unless the language of the pardon absolutely relieve the offender of all the effects thereof. Considering that recidivism does not prescribe, no matter how long ago was the first conviction, he shall still be a recidivist. Illustrations: When the crime carries with it moral turpitude, the offender even if granted pardon shall still remain disqualified from those falling in cases where moral turpitude is a bar. Pedro was prosecuted and convicted of the crime of robbery and was sentenced to six years imprisonment or prision correccional. After serving sentence for three years, he was granted absolute pardon. Ten years later, Pedro was again prosecuted and convicted of the crime of theft, a crime embraced in the same title, this time he shall be a recidivist. On the other hand, if he has served all six years of the first sentence, and his name was included in the list of all those granted absolute pardon, pardon shall relieve him of the effects of the crime, and therefore even if he commits theft again, he shall not be considered a recidivist. In Monsanto v. Factoran, Jr., 170 SCRA 191, it was held that absolute pardon does not ipso facto entitle the convict to reinstatement to the public office forfeited by reason of his conviction. Although pardon restores his eligibility for appointment to that office, the pardoned convict must reapply for the new appointment . Pardon becomes valid only when there is a final judgment. If given before this, it is premature and hence void. There is no such thing as a premature amnesty, because it does not require a final judgment; it may be given before final judgment or after it. Prescription of crime and prescription of the penalty
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Prescription of the crime begins, as a general rule on the day the crime was committed, unless the crime was concealed, not public, in which case, the prescription thereof would only commence from the time the offended party or the government learns of the commission of the crime. Commission of the crime is public -- This does not mean alone that the crime was within public knowledge or committed in public. Illustration: In the crime of falsification of a document that was registered in the proper registry of the government like the Registry of Property or the Registry of Deeds of the Civil registry, the falsification is deemed public from the time the falsified document was registered or recorded in such public office so even though, the offended party may not really know of the falsification, the prescriptive period of the crime shall already run from the moment the falsified document was recorded in the public registry. So in the case where a deed of sale of a parcel of land which was falsified was recorded in the corresponding Registry of Property, the owner of the land came to know of the falsified transaction only after 10 years, so he brought the criminal action only then. The Supreme Court ruled that the crime has already prescribed. From the moment the falsified document is registered in the Registry of Property, the prescriptive period already commenced to run. When a crime prescribes, the State loses the right to prosecute the offender, hence, even though the offender may not have filed a motion to quash on this ground the trial court, but after conviction and during the appeal he learned that at the time the case was filed, the crime has already prescribed, such accused can raise the question of prescription even for the first time on appeal, and the appellate court shall have no jurisdiction to continue, if legally, the crime has indeed prescribed. The prevailing rule now is, prescription of the crime is not waivable, the earlier jurisprudence to the contrary had already been abrogated or overruled. Moreover, for purposes of prescription, the period for filing a complaint or information may not be extended at all, even though the last day such prescriptive period falls on a holiday or a Sunday. For instance, light felony prescribes in 60 days or two months. If the 60 th day falls on a Sunday, the filing of the complaint on the succeeding Monday is already fatal to the prosecution of the crime because the crime has already prescribed. The rules on Criminal Procedure for purposes of prescription is that the filing of the complaint even at the public prosecutors office suspends the running of the prescriptive period, but not the filing with the barangay. So the earlier rulings to the contrary are already abrogated by express provision of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure. (2) The prescription of the crime is interrupted or suspended (1)
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When a complaint is filed in a proper barangay for conciliation or mediation as required by Chapter 7, Local Government Code, but the suspension of the prescriptive period is good only for 60 days. After which the prescription will resume to run, whether the conciliation or mediation is terminated for not; When criminal case is filed in the prosecutors office, the prescription of the crime is suspended until the accused is convicted or the proceeding is terminated for a cause not attributable to the accused.
But where the crime is subject to Summary Procedure, the prescription of the crime will be suspended only when the information is already filed with the trial court. It is not the filing of the complaint, but the filing of the information in the trial which will suspend the prescription of the crime. On the prescription of the penalty, the period will only commence to run when the convict has begun to serve the sentence. Actually, the penalty will prescribe from the moment the convict evades the service of the sentence. So if an accused was convicted in the trial court, and the conviction becomes final and executory, so this fellow was arrested to serve the sentence, on the way to the penitentiary, the vehicle carrying him collided with another vehicle and overturned, thus enabling the prisoner to escape, no matter how long such convict has been a fugitive from justice, the penalty imposed by the trial court will never prescribe because he has not yet commenced the service of his sentence. For the penalty to prescribe, he must be brought to Muntinlupa, booked there, placed inside the cell and thereafter he escapes. Whether it is prescription of crime or prescription of penalty, if the subject could leave the Philippines and go to a country with whom the Philippines has no extradition treaty, the prescriptive period of the crime or penalty shall remain suspended whenever he is out of the country. When the offender leaves for a country to which the Philippines has an extradition treaty, the running of the prescriptive period will go on even if the offender leaves Philippine territory for that country. Presently the Philippines has an extradition treaty with Taiwan, Indonesia, Canada, Australia, USA and Switzerland. So if the offender goes to any of these countries, the prescriptive period still continues to run. In the case of the prescription of the penalty, the moment the convict commits another crime while he is fugitive from justice, prescriptive period of the penalty shall be suspended and shall not run in the meantime. The crime committed does not include the initial evasion of service of sentence that the convict must perform before the penalty shall begin to prescribe, so that the initial crime of evasion of service of sentence does not suspend the prescription of penalty, it is the commission of other crime, after the convict has evaded the service of penalty that will suspend such period.
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Marriage In the case of marriage, do not say that it is applicable for the crimes under Article 344. It is only true in the crimes of rape, abduction, seduction and acts of lasciviousness. Do not say that it is applicable to private crimes because the term includes adultery and concubinage. Marriages in these cases may even compound the crime of adultery or concubinage. It is only in the crimes of rape, abduction, seduction and acts of lasciviousness that the marriage by the offender with the offended woman shall extinguish civil liability, not only criminal liability of the principal who marries the offended woman, but also that of the accomplice and accessory, if there are any. Co-principals who did not themselves directly participate in the execution of the crime but who only cooperated, will also benefit from such marriage, but not when such co-principal himself took direct part in the execution of the crime. Marriage as a ground for extinguishing civil liability must have been contracted in good faith. The offender who marries the offended woman must be sincere in the marriage and therefore must actually perform the duties of a husband after the marriage, otherwise, notwithstanding such marriage, the offended woman, although already his wife can still prosecute him again, although the marriage remains a valid marriage. Do not think that the marriage is avoided or annulled. The marriage still subsists although the offended woman may refile the complaint. The Supreme Court ruled that marriage contemplated must be a real marriage and not one entered to and not just to evade punishment for the crime committed because the offender will be compounding the wrong he has committed. Partial extinction of criminal liability Good conduct allowance This includes the allowance for loyalty under Article 98, in relation to Article 158. A convict who escapes the place of confinement on the occasion of disorder resulting from a conflagration, earthquake or similar catastrophe or during a mutiny in which he has not participated and he returned within 48 hours after the proclamation that the calamity had already passed, such convict shall be given credit of 1/5 of the original sentence from that allowance for his loyalty of coming back. Those who did not leave the penitentiary under such circumstances do not get such allowance for loyalty. Article 158 refers only to those who leave and return. Parole
This correspondingly extinguishes service of sentence up to the maximum of the indeterminate sentence. This is the partial extinction referred to, so that if the convict was never given parole, no partial extinction. CIVIL LIABILITY OF THE OFFENDER Civil liability of the offender falls under three categories: (1) (2) (3) Restitution and restoration; Reparation of the damage caused; and Indemnification of consequential damages.
Restitution or restoration Restitution or restoration presupposes that the offended party was divested of property, and such property must be returned. If the property is in the hands of a third party, the same shall nevertheless be taken away from him and restored to the offended party, even though such third party may be a holder for value and a buyer in good faith of the property, except when such third party buys the property from a public sale where the law protects the buyer. For example, if a third party bought a property in a public auction conducted by the sheriff levied on the property of a judgment creditor for an obligation, the buyer of the property at such execution sale is protected by law. The offended party cannot divest him thereof. So the offended party may only resort to reparation of the damage done from the offender. Some believed that this civil liability is true only in crimes against property, this is not correct. Regardless of the crime committed, if the property is illegally taken from the offended party during the commission of the crime, the court may direct the offender to restore or restitute such property to the offended party. It can only be done if the property is brought within the jurisdiction of that court. For example, in a case where the offender committed rape, during the rape, the offender got on of the earrings of the victim. When apprehended, the offender was prosecuted for rape and theft. When the offender was asked why he got on of the earrings of the victim, the offender disclosed that he took one of the earrings in order to have a souvenir of the sexual intercourse. Supreme Court ruled that the crime committed is not theft and rape but rape and unjust vexation for the taking of the earring. The latter crime is not a crime against property, this is a crime against personal security and liberty under Title IX of Book II of the RPC. And yet, the offender was required to restore or restitute the earring to the offended woman.
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Property will have to be restored to the offended party even this would require the taking of the property from a third person. Where personal property was divested from the offended party pursuant to the commission of the crime, the one who took the same or accepted the same would be doing so without the benefit of the just title. So even if the property may have been bought by the third person, the same may be taken from him and restored to the offended party without an obligation on the part of the offended party to pay him whatever he paid. The right to recover what he has paid will be against the offender who sold it to him. On the other hand, if the crime was theft or robbery, the one who received the personal property becomes a fence, he is not only required to restitute the personal property but he incurs criminal liability in violation of the Anti-Fencing Law. If the property cannot be restituted anymore, then the damage must be repaired, requiring the offender to pay the value thereof, as determined by the court. That value includes the sentimental value to the offended party, not only the replacement cost. In most cases, the sentimental value is higher than the replacement value. But if what would be restored is brand new, then there will be an allowance for depreciation, otherwise, the offended party is allowed to enrich himself at the expense of the offender. So there will be a corresponding depreciation and the offended party may even be required to pay something just to cover the difference of the value of what was restored to him. The obligation of the offender transcends to his heirs, even if the offender dies, provided he died after judgment became final, the heirs shall assume the burden of the civil liability, but this is only to the extent that they inherit property from the deceased, if they do not inherit, they cannot inherit the obligations. The right of the offended party transcends to heirs upon death. The heirs of the offended party step into the shoes of the latter to demand civil liability from the offender. Reparation of the damage caused In case of human life, reparation of the damage cause is basically P50,000.00 value of human life, exclusive of other forms of damages. This P50,000.00 may also increase whether such life was lost through intentional felony or criminal negligence, whether the result of dolo or culpa. Also in the crime of rape, the damages awarded to the offended woman is generally P30,000.00 for the damage to her honor. In earlier rulings, the amount varied, whether the offended woman is younger or a married woman. Supreme Court ruled that even if the offended woman does not adduce evidence or such damage, court can take judicial notice of the fact that if a woman was raped, she inevitably suffers damages. Under the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure, a private
prosecutor can recover all kinds of damages including attorneys fee. The only limitation is that the amount and the nature of the damages should be specified. The present procedural law does not allow a blanket recovery of damages. Each kind of damages must be specified and the amount duly proven. Indemnification of consequential damages Indemnification of consequential damages refers to the loss of earnings, loss of profits. This does not refer only to consequential damages suffered by the offended party; this also includes consequential damages to third party who also suffer because of the commission of the crime. The offender carnapped a bridal car while the newly-weds were inside the church. Since the car was only rented, consequential damage not only to the newly-weds but also to the entity which rented the car to them. Most importantly, refer to the persons who are civilly liable under Articles 102 and 103. This pertains to the owner, proprietor of hotels, inns, taverns and similar establishments, an obligation to answer civilly for the loss or property of their guests. Under Articloe 102, two conditions must be present before liability attaches to the inkeepers, tavernkeepers and proprietors: (1) The guest must have informed the management in advance of his having brought to the premises certain valuables aside from the usual personal belongings of the guest; and The guest must have followed the rules and regulations prescribed by the management of such inn, tavern, or similar establishment regarding the safekeeping of said valuables.
(2)
The Supreme Court ruled that even though the guest did not obey the rules and regulations prescribed by the management for safekeeping of the valuables, this does not absolve management from the subsidiary civil liability. Noncompliance with such rules and regulations but the guests will only be regarded as contributory negligence, but it wont absolve the management from civil liability. Liability specially attaches when the management is found to have violated any law or ordinance, rule or regulation governing such establishment. Even if the crime is robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons or committed by the inkeepers employees, management will be liable, otherwise, not liable because there is duress from the offender, liable only for theft and force upon things.
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Under Article 103, the subsidiary liability of an employer or master for the crime committed by his employee or servant may attach only when the following requisites concur: (1) (2) (3) (4) The employer must be engaged in business or in trade or industry while the accused was his employee; At the time the crime was committed, the employee-employerr relationship must be existing between the two; The employee must have been found guilty of the crime charged and accordingly held civilly liable; The writ of execution for the satisfaction of the civil liability was returned unsatisfied because the accused-employee does not have enough property to pay the civil liability.
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To relate with Article 38, when there is an order or preference of pecuniary (monetary) liability, therefore, restitution is not included here. There is not subsidiary penalty for non-payment of civil liability. Subsidiary civil liability is imposed in the following: (1) In case of a felony committed under the compulsion of an irresistible force. The person who employed the irresistible force is subsidiarily liable; In case of a felony committed under an impulse of an equal or greater injury. The person who generated such an impulse is subsidiarily liable.
(2)
When these requisites concur, the employer will be subsidiarily civilly liable for the full amount that his employee was adjudged civilly liable. It is already settled in jurisprudence that there is no need to file a civil action against the employer in order to enforce the subsidiary civil liability for the crime committed by his employee, it is enough that the writ of execution is returned unsatisfied. There is no denial of due process of law because the liability of the employer is subsidiary and not primary. He will only be liable if his employee does not have the property to pay his civil liability, since it is the law itself that provides that such subsidiary liability exists and ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Civil liability of the offender is extinguished in the same manner as civil obligation is extinguished but this is not absolutely true. Under civil law, a civil obligation is extinguished upon loss of the thing due when the thing involved is specific. This is not a ground applicable to extinction of civil liability in criminal case if the thing due is lost, the offender shall repair the damages caused. When there are several offenders, the court in the exercise of its discretion shall determine what shall be the share of each offender depending upon the degree of participation as principal, accomplice or accessory. If within each class of offender, there are more of them, such as more than one principal or more than one accomplice or accessory, the liability in each class of offender shall be subsidiary. Anyone of the may be required to pay the civil liability pertaining to such offender without prejudice to recovery from those whose share have been paid by another. If all the principals are insolvent, the obligation shall devolve upon the accomplice(s) or accessory(s). But whoever pays shall have the right of covering the share of the obligation from those who did not pay but are civilly liable.
The owners of taverns, inns, motels, hotels, where the crime is committed within their establishment due to noncompliance with general police regulations, if the offender who is primarily liable cannot pay, the proprietor, or owner is subsidiarily liable. Felonies committed by employees, pupils, servants in the course of their employment, schooling or household chores. The employer, master, teacher is subsidiarily liable civilly, while the offender is primarily liable. In case the accomplice and the principal cannot pay, the liability of those subsidiarily liable is absolute. COMPLEX CRIME Philosophy behind plural crimes: The treatment of plural crimes as one is to be lenient to the offender, who, instead of being made to suffer distinct penalties for every resulting crime is made to suffer one penalty only, although it is the penalty for the most serious one and is in the maximum period. Purpose is in the pursuance of the rule of pro reo. If be complexing the crime, the penalty would turn out to be higher, do not complex anymore. Example: Murder and theft (killed with treachery, then stole the right). Penalty: If complex Reclusion temporal maximum to death. If treated individually Reclusion temporal to Reclusion Perpetua. Complex crime is not just a matter of penalty, but of substance under the Revised Penal Code. Plurality of crimes may be in the form of: (1) Compound crime;
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(2) (3)
Complex crime; and Composite crime.
Abetting committed during the encounter between rebels and government troops such that the homicide committed cannot be complexed with rebellion. This is because they are indispensable part of rebellion. (Caveat: Ortega says rebellion can be complexed with common crimes in discussion on Rebellion) The complex crime lies actually in the first form under Article 148.
A compound crime is one where a single act produces two or more crimes. A complex crime strictly speaking is one where the offender has to commit an offense as a means for the commission of another offense. It is said that the offense is committed as a necessary means to commit the other offense. Necessary should not be understood as indispensable, otherwise, it shall be considered absorbed and not giving rise to a complex crime. A composite crime is one in which substance is made up of more than one crime, but which in the eyes of the law is only a single indivisible offense. This is also known as special complex crime. Examples are robbery with homicide, robbery with rape, rape with homicide. These are crimes which in the eyes of the law are regarded only as a single indivisible offense. V. Composite Crime/Special Complex Crime The first form of the complex crime is actually a compound crime, is one where a single act constitutes two or more grave and/or less grave felonies. The basis in complexing or compounding the crime is the act. So that when an offender performed more than one act, although similar, if they result in separate crimes, there is no complex crime at all, instead, the offender shall be prosecuted for as many crimes as are committed under separate information. When the single act brings about two or more crimes, the offender is punished with only one penalty, although in the maximum period, because he acted only with single criminal impulse. The presumption is that, since there is only one act formed, it follows that there is only one criminal impulse and correctly, only one penalty should be imposed. Conversely, when there are several acts performed, the assumption is that each act is impelled by a distinct criminal impulse and for ever criminal impulse, a separate penalty. However, it may happen that the offender is impelled only by a single criminal impulse in committing a series of acts that brought about more than one crime, considering that Criminal Law, if there is only one criminal impulse which brought about the commission of the crime, the offender should be penalized only once. There are in fact cases decided by the Supreme Court where the offender has performed a series of acts but the acts appeared to be impelled by one and the same impulse, the ruling is that a complex crime is committed. In this case it is not the singleness of the act but the singleness of the impulse that has been considered. There are cases where the Supreme Court held that the crime committed is complex even though the offender performed not a single act but a series of acts. The only reason is that the series of acts are impelled by a single criminal impulse. CONTINUED AND CONTINUING CRIMES In criminal law, when a series of acts are perpetrated in pursuance of a single criminal impulse, there is what is called a continued crime. In criminal procedure for purposes of venue, this is referred to as a continuing crime. The term continuing crimes as sometimes used in lieu of the term continued crimes, however, although both terms are analogous, they are not really used with the same import. Continuing crime is the term used in criminal procedure to denote that a certain crime may be prosecuted and tried not only before the court of the place where it was originally committed or began, but
This is one which in substance is made up of more than one crime but which in the eyes of the law is only a single indivisible offense. This is also known as a special complex crime. Examples are robbery with homicide, robbery with rape, and rape with homicide. The compound crime and the complex crime are treated in Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code. But in such article, a compound crime is also designated as a complex crime, but complex crimes are limited only to a situation where the resulting felonies are grave and/or less grave. Whereas in a compound crime, there is no limit as to the gravity of the resulting crimes as long as a single act brings about two or more crimes. Strictly speaking, compound crimes are not limited to grave or less grave felonies but covers all single act that results in two or more crimes. Illustration: A person threw a hand grenade and the people started scampering. When the hand grenade exploded, no on was seriously wounded all were mere wounded. It was held that this is a compound crime, although the resulting felonies are only slight. Illustration of a situation where the term necessary in complex crime should not be understood as indispensable:
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also before the court of the place where the crime was continued. Hence, the term continuing crime is used in criminal procedure when any of the material ingredients of the crime was committed in different places. A continued crime is one where the offender performs a series of acts violating one and the same penal provision committed at the same place and about the same time for the same criminal purpose, regardless of a series of acts done, it is regarded in law as one. In People v. de Leon, where the accused took five roosters from one and the same chicken coop, although, the roosters were owned by different persons, it was held that there is only one crime of theft committed, because the accused acted out of a single criminal impulse only. However performing a series of acts but this is one and the same intent Supreme Court ruled that only one crime is committed under one information. In People v. Lawas, the accused constabulary soldiers were ordered to march with several muslims from one barrio to another place. These soldiers feared that on the way, some of the Muslims may escape. So Lawas ordered the men to tie the Muslims by the hand connecting one with the other, so no one would run away. When the hands of the Muslims were tied, one of them protested, he did not want to be included among those who were tied becase he was a Hajji, so the Hajji remonstrated and there was commotion. At the height of the commotion, Lawas ordered his men to fire, and the soldiers mechanically fired. Eleven were killed and several others were wounded. The question of whether the constabulary soldiers should be prosecuted for the killing of each under a separate information has reached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the accused should be prosecuted only in one information, because a complex crime of multiple homicide was committed by them. In another case, a band of robbers came across a compound where a sugar mill is located. The workers of said mill have their quarters within the compound. The band of robbers ransacked the different quarters therein. It was held that there is only one crime committed multiple robbery, not because of Article 48 but because this is a continued crime. When the robbers entered the compound, they were moved by a single criminal intent. Not because there were several quarters robbed. This becomes a complex crime. The definition in Article 48 is not honored because the accused did not perform a single act. There were a series of acts, but the decision in the Lawas case is correct. The confusion lies in this. While Article 48 speaks of a complex crime where a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave offenses, even those cases when the act is not a single but a series of acts resulting to two or more grave and less grave felonies, the Supreme Court considered this as a complex crime when the act is the product of one single criminal impulse. If confronted with a problem, use the standard or condition that it refers not only to the singleness of the act which brought two or more grave and/less grave felonies. The Supreme Court has extended this class of complex crime to
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those cases when the offender performed not a single act but a series of acts as long as it is the product of a single criminal impulse. You cannot find an article in the Revised Penal Code with respect to the continued crime or continuing crime. The nearest article is Article 48. Such situation is also brought under the operation of Article 48. In People v. Garcia, the accused were convicts who were members of a certain gang and they conspired to kill the other gang. Some of the accused killed their victims in one place within the same penitentiary, some killed the others in another place within the same penitentiary. The Supreme Court ruled that all accused should be punished under one information because they acted in conspiracy. The act of one is the act of all. Because there were several victims killed and some were mortally wounded, the accused should be held for the complex crime of multiple homicide with multiple frustrated homicide. There is a complex crime not only when there is a single act but a series of acts. It is correct that when the offender acted in conspiracy, this crime is considered as one and prosecuted under one information. Although in this case, the offenders did not only kill one person but killed different persons, so it is clear that in killing of one victim or the killing of another victim, another act out of this is done simultaneously. Supreme Court considered this as complex. Although the killings did not result from one single act. In criminal procedure, it is prohibited to charge more than one offense in an information, except when the crimes in one information constitute a complex crime or a special complex crime. So whenever the Supreme Court concludes that the criminal should be punished only once, because they acted in conspiracy or under the same criminal impulse, it is necessary to embody these crimes under one single information. It is necessary to consider them as complex crimes even if the essence of the crime does not fit the definition of Art 48, because there is no other provision in the RPC. Duplicity of offenses, in order not to violate this rule, it must be called a complex crime. In earlier rulings on abduction with rape, if several offenders abducted the woman and abused her, there is multiple rape. The offenders are to be convicted of one count of rape and separately charged of the other rapes. In People v. Jose, there were four participants here. They abducted the woman, after which, the four took turns in abusing her. It was held that each one of the four became liable not only for his own rape but also for those committed by the others. Each of the four offenders was convicted of four rapes. In the eyes of the law, each committed four crimes of rape. One of the four rapes committed by one of them was complexed with the crime of abduction. The other three rapes are distinct counts of rape. The three rapes
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are not necessary to complaints/information. commit the other rapes. Therefore, separate
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In People v. Pabasa, the Supreme Court through Justice Aquino ruled that there is only one count of forcible abduction with rape committed by the offenders who abducted the two women and abused them several times. This was only a dissenting opinion of Justice Aquino, that there could be only one complex crimeof abduction with rape, regardless of the number of rapes committed because all the rapes are but committed out of one and the same lewd design which impelled the offender to abduct the victim. In People v. Bojas, the Supreme Court followed the ruling in People v. Jose that the four men who abducted and abused the offended women were held liable for one crime one count or forcible abudction with rape and distinct charges for rape for the other rapes committed by them. In People v. Bulaong, the Supreme Court adopted the dissenting opinion of Justice Aquino in People v. Pabasa, that when several persons abducted a woman and abused her, regardless of the number of rapes committed, there should only be one complex crime of forcible abduction with rape. The rapes committed were in the nature of a continued crime characterized by the same lewd design which is an essential element in the crime of forcible abduction. The abuse amounting to rape is complexed with forcible abduction because the abduction was already consummated when the victim was raped. The forcible abduction must be complexed therewith. But the multiple rapes should be considered only as one because they are in the nature of a continued crime. Note: This is a dangerous view because the abductors will commit as much rape as they can, after all, only one complex crime of rape would arise. In adultery, each intercourse constitutes one crime. Apparently, the singleness of the act is not considered a single crime. Each intercourse brings with it the danger of bringing one stranger in the family of the husband. Article 48 also applies in cases when out of a single act of negligence or imprudence, two or more grave or less grave felonies resulted, although only the first part thereof (compound crime). The second part of Article 48 does not apply, referring to the complex crime proper because this applies or refers only to a deliberate commission of one offense to commit another offense. However, a light felony may result from criminal negligence or imprudence, together with other grave or less grave felonies resulting therefrom and the Supreme Court held that all felonies resulting from criminal negligence should be made subject of one information only. The reason being that, there is only one information and prosecution only. Otherwise, it would be tantamount to splitting the criminal negligence similar to splitting a cause of action which is prohibited in civil cases.
Although under Article 48, a light felony should not be included in a complex crime, yet by virtue of this ruling of the Supreme Court, the light felony shall be included in the same information charging the offender with grave and/or less grave felonies resulting from the negligence of reckless imprudence and this runs counter to the provision of Article 48. So while the Supreme Court ruled that the light felony resulting from the same criminal negligence should be complexed with the other felonies because that would be a blatant violation of Article 48, instead the Supreme Court stated that an additional penalty should be imposed for the light felony. This would mean two penalties to be imposed, one for the complex crime and one for the light felony. It cannot separate the light felony because it appears that the culpa is crime itself and you cannot split the crime. Applying the concept of the continued crime, the following cases have been treated as constituting one crime only: (1) The theft of 13 cows belonging to two different persons committed by the accused at the same place and period of time (People v. Tumlos, 67 Phil. 320); The theft of six roosters belonging to two different owners from the same coop and at the same period of time (People v. Jaranillo); The illegal charging of fees for service rendered by a lawyer every time he collects veterans benefits on behalf of a client who agreed that attorneys fees shall be paid out of such benefits (People v. Sabbun, 10 SCAR 156). The collections of legal fees were impelled by the same motive, that of collecting fees for services rendered, and all acts of collection were made under the same criminal impulse.
(2) (3)
On the other hand, the Supreme Court declined to apply the concept in the following cases: (1) Two Estafa cases, one which was committed during the period from January 19 to December, 1955 and the other from January 1956 to July 1956 (People v. Dichupa, 13 Phil 306). Said acts were committed on two different occasions; Several malversations committed in May, June and July 1936 and falsifications to conceal said offenses committed in August and October, 1936. The malversations and falsifications were not the result of one resolution to embezzle and falsify (People v. CIV, 66 Phil. 351); Seventy-five estafa cases committed by the conversion by the agents of collections from the customers of the employer made on different dates.
(2)
(3)
/vvverga
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In the theft cases, the trend is to follow the single larceny doctrine, that is taking of several things, whether belonging to the same or different owners, at the same time and place, constitutes one larceny only. Many courts have abandoned the separate larceny doctrine, under which there was distinct larceny as to the property of each victim. Also abandoned is the doctrine that the government has the discretion to prosecute the accused for one offense or for as many distinct offenses as there are victims (Santiago v. Justice Garchitorena, decided on December 2, 1993). Here, the accused was charged with performing a single act that of approving the legalization of aliens not qualified under the law. The prosecution manifested that they would only file one information. Subsequently, 32 amended informations were filed. The Supreme Court directed the prosecution to consolidate the cases into one offense because (1) they were in violation of the same law Executive Order No. 324; (2) caused injury to one party only the government; and (3) they were done in the same day. The concept of delito continuado has been applied to crimes under special laws since in Article 10, the Revised Penal Code shall be supplementary to special laws, unless the latter provides the contrary.
Vena V. Verga
ARTICLE 91 (PRESCRIPTION) Period of prescription shall run from the day on which the crime is discovered by the offended party. The authorities, or their agents and shall be interrupted by the filling of the complaint or information and shall commence to run again when such proceedings terminate without the accused being convicted or acquitted. Prescription shall not run when offender is not in the Philippines. PEOPLE vs. SANDIGANBAYAN Keyword: Torrens; registration of public document Issue: W/N the act charged has already prescribed. Decision: Yes. The date of the violation of the law becomes the operative date for the commencement of the period of prescription. The date of computing the period of prescription would be from the date of the filing of the application. Even if the ten year period commenced to run from the registration and issuance of the free patent title by the register of deed, registration being a constructive notice to the whole word, the prescriptive period would lapse on 1986 or 5 months before the filing of the complaint. PEOPLE vs. REYES
EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY Death of the convict as to the personal penalties before final judgment By service of the sentence By amnesty which completely extinguishes the penalty and all its effects BY prescription of the crime By prescription of the penalty By the marriage of the offended party (rape)
Keyword: prescription of crime; filling in the register of deeds Issue: W/N the crime prescribed Decision: Yes. The criminal action has been extinguished by prescription. The title, once registered is a notice to the world. All persons must take notice. Considering the lapse of more than 20 years, the crimes charges already prescribed. Issue: Does Art. 91 cannot be construed in such manner as to admit application of the rule on construction. Decision: No. Although caution should be observed in applying the rule of construction in civil cases, the court will not hesitate to do so if the factual and legal circumstance so warrant. The application of the rule on constructive notice in the construction of Article 92 of the RPC would most certainly be favorable to the accused since the prescriptive period of the crime shall have to be reckoned with earlier. The criminal offense of falsification of public document has already prescribed. MONSANTO vs. FACTORAN Keywords: Estafa; falsification of public documents. FULL and ABSOLUTE FREEDOM:
US vs. MADLANGBAYAN Keyword: spy; amnesty; crime politically motivated Issue: W/N the civil aspect is extinguished too on account of amnesty. Decision: No. The dismissal of the criminal action does not extinguish the civil responsibility. The idea of amnesty wipes out the crime cannot not be carried to the extent of saying, for the purpose of depriving a person of a legal civil right to which he was entitled, that the criminal act never existed. Issue: Should the case be dismissed and accused acquitted since the crime was politically motivated. Decision: No.. The accused must first show compliance with the requirements for availing himself of the benefits like taking the required oath. Upon filing in the court, the oath, the case will be dismissed. Dismissal of the case will not be without prejudice to the right of the widow to enforce the civil liability of the accused.
/vvverga
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Subject to the limitations imposed by the constitution, the pardoning power cannot be restricted or controlled by the legislative action. Absolute pardon dies not blot out the crime committed. Pardon if granted before conviction, it prevents any penalties and disabilities, consequent upon condition, from attaching. If granted after conviction, it removes penalties and disabilities and restores him to all his civil rights. The very essence of pardon is forgiveness and remission of guilt. Pardon implies guilt, thus, it does no erase the crime and the conviction thereof. This is the reason why the employee is not entitled to backpay when pardoned. ARTICLE 100 Every person criminally liable for a felony in also civilly liable. STEIMETZ vs. VALDEZ Keyword: 2 vehicles collided in intersection; victim cannot collect from the driver. Issue: W/N the drivers employer can be civilly liable. Decision: No. the employer is not engaged in business or industry and merely uses automobile for private ends. The employer was also no in the automobile when the accident happened and when it exercised due diligence in choosing a driver, the employer cannot be civilly liable. MARQUEZ vs. CASTILLO Keyword: Chauffer, MC the employer did not know his car was used. victim died. Issue: Can the employer be held liable. Decision: No. Where it admitted that the employer did not know that his chauffer was using the car that day and the he exercised due diligence in hiring the chauffer, the employer can not be held liable. The subsidiary liability of the master only takes place when the servant, subordinate or employee commits a punishable criminal act while in the actual performance of his own ordinary duties and he was innocent thereby rendering incapable of satisfying by himself his own liability. VARELA vs. FINNICK Keyword: Estafa of jewels; pawned instead of selling them. Issue: W/N the jewels can be recovered. Decision: Yes. Every person criminally liable for a crime or misdemeanor is also civilly liable. The owner has an absolute right to the jewels from the possession The
Vena V. Verga
of whoever holds them, in accordance with the judgment entered in the aforesaid cause for estafa. REYES vs. RUIZ Keyword: Defraud; jewels Issue: W/N the owner of the jewels direct four pawnshops to restore the jewels without indemnity on the party of the petitioner. Decision: Yes. Among the civil responsibilities incurred by a person committing estafa is that of restoring the thing taken. The jewels were pawned without the knowledge of the owner thus must be restored by the pawnshop owners. If restitution is impossible, they may repatriate for the injury or indemnify the owner. US vs. VILLALOBOS Keyword: Theft of carabao. Another person aided in procuring registration certificate. Issue: W/N that person is mere accessory to the theft or principal. Decision: Yes. A number of stolen carabao were found in the possession of a person who kept them hidden for a time and, a few days prior to their recovery, altered the brands on the animals. Thus, unless it be satisfactorily shown that the property was stolen by some other person, he must be presumed to be the author of the theft and not merely an accessory. His participation as an accessory cannot be admitted. He is principal to the crime. Although stolen property is acquired in good faith by a third party, he can not lawfully withhold the possession thereof from the true owner and insist upon reimbursement, before delivery. PEOPLE vs. BAYOTAS Keyword: Rape; SC dismissed the criminal aspect Issue: Does death of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguish his civil liability. Decision: Yes. The case of People v. Castillo, this issue was settled in the affirmative. With reference to Castillo's criminal liability, them is no question. The law is plain. Statutory construction is unnecessary. Said liability is extinguished. The civil liability, however, poses a problem. Such liability is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment. It should be stressed that the extinction of civil liability follows the extinction of the criminal liability under Article 89, only when the civil liability arises from the criminal act as its only basis. Stated differently, where the civil liability does not exist independently of the criminal responsibility, the extinction of the latter by death, ipso facto extinguishes the former, provided, of course, that death supervenes before final judgment. The said principle does not apply in instant case wherein the civil liability springs neither solely nor originally from the crime itself but from a civil contract of purchase and sale.
/vvverga
Page 109 of 100
1. Death of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability as well as the civil liability based solely thereon. 2. Corollarily, the claim for civil liability survives notwithstanding the death of accused, if the same may also be predicated on a source of obligation other than delict. 3. Where the civil liability survives, as explained in Number 2 above, an action for recovery therefore may be pursued but only by way of filing a separate civil action and subject to Section 1, Rule 111 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure as amended. This separate civil action may be enforced either
Vena V. Verga
against the executor/administrator or the estate of the accused, depending an the source of obligation upon which the same is based as explained above. 4. Finally, the private offended party need not fear a forfeiture of his right to file this separate civil action by prescription, in cases where -during the prosecution of the criminal action and prior to its extinction, the privateoffended party instituted together therewith the civil action. In such case, the statute of limitations on the civil liability is deemed interrupted during the pendency of the criminal case, conformably with provisions of the Civil Code, that should thereby avoid any apprehension on a possible privation of right by prescription.
/vvverga
Page 110 of 100

CRIMINAL LAW 1 REVIEWER Padilla Cases and Notes Ortega Notes

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CRIMINAL LAW 1 REVIEWER Padilla Cases and Notes Ortega Notes

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Criminal Law 1 Reviewer (Padilla cases and notes combined with Ortega Notes)

CRIMINAL LAW REVIEWER

Power to define and punish crimes

Foreign merchant vessels more or less subjected to the territorial laws.

Basic Maxims in Criminal Law

See: Principle of Pro-reo

Consequences if repeal of penal law is partial or relative

SCOPE OF APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE

HOW A FELONY MAY ARISE Punishable by the Revised Penal Code

Definition: Felonies are acts and omissions punishable by the law.

Intent Violates Minimum required for a person to incur criminal liability

Intent governs. RPC Criminal Intent

Crimes punished under special laws.

Intent Defined distinguished from discernment

Article 4: Criminal Liability

STAGES IN THE COMMISSION OF FELONY

Questions & Answers 1. Is there an attempted slight physical injuries?

The ugliness would not disappear through natural healing process.

CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT A CRIME IS DISTINGUISHED CONSPIRACY AS A MEANS TO COMMIT TO CRIME

Damnum absque injuria

Distinctions between recidivism and habitual delinquency In recidivism

Alternative circumstances Four alternative circumstances

CASES FOR JUSTIFYING, MITGATING AND AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES

(2) (3) (4)

When penalty is only a fine.

(2) (3) (4) (5)

(1) (2) (3)

(2) (3) (4)

Probation will depreciate the seriousness of the crime. (5) (6)

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Complex crime; and Composite crime.

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