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Criminal Law Book I Review
Criminal Law Book I Review
Introduction
SOURCES:
(1) Revised Penal Code
(2) Special Penal Laws
(3) Penal Presidential Decrees
- based on the police power of the State
FELONIES
KINDS:
(1) Act - external/overt
(2) Omission - inaction/failure to do
2 WAYS OF COMMISSION:
(1) Dolo - deceit/malice; deliberate intent; good faith
is a defense; intentional acts
(2) Culpa - negligence (deficiency of perception),
imprudence (deficiency of action), lack of foresight,
lack of skill; culpable acts
NOTA BENE:
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NOTA BENE:
It is important to know the different stages of
execution because this affects the penalty to be
imposed.
No felony is committed if the desistance
happened BEFORE the accused commences the
commission of the crime. However, if the
accused spontaneously desisted only AFTER he
commenced the commission of the crime, he is
still liable.
Overt acts must have direct connection with the
crime intended.
For frustrated murder/homicide, victim must
have suffered mortal wounds. There is a mortal
wound when a vital organ of the body is
affected.
Intent to kill - determined from the weapon
used, words uttered and presumed if death
occurs.
Impossible crime is always consummated. It
should only be used as a last resort.
Q: B shot A, hitting him in the leg. While A was
down, B aimed at A, intending to finish him off.
However, overcome by pity, B decided not to shoot
A. Is B liable?
A: Yes, B is liable. Ordinarily, the spontaneous
desistance of the actor would prevent any criminal
- GR: Conspiracy and proposal to commit a felony
are not punishable.
- EXC: If the law itself provides that conspiracy or
proposal to commit a particular crime is punishable.
REQUISITES OF CONSPIRACY:
(1) Two or more persons came to an agreement
(2) Agreement concerned the commission of a felony
(3) Execution of the felony be decided upon
JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES
Art. 11. Justifying circumstances. The following do not incur
any criminal liability:
1. Anyone who acts in defense of his person or rights, provided
that the following circumstances concur:
First. Unlawful aggression;
Second. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent
or repel it;
Third. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person
defending himself.
2. Anyone who acts in defense of the person or rights of his
spouse, ascendants, descendants, or legitimate, natural, or
adopted brothers or sisters, or of his relatives by affinity in the
same degrees, and those by consanguinity within the fourth civil
degree, provided that the first and second requisites prescribed
in the next preceding circumstances are present and the further
requisite, in case the provocation was given by the person
attacked, that the one making defense has no part therein.
3. Anyone who acts in defense of the person or rights of a
stranger, provided that the first and second requisites
4. Any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care,
causes an injury by mere accident without fault or intention of
causing it.
5. Any person who acts under the compulsion of an irresistible
force.
6. Any person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable
fear of an equal or greater injury.
7. Any person who fails to perform an act required by law, when
prevented by some lawful or insuperable cause.
I. Incomplete Defense
- unlawful aggression must be present
2. P: the cause that brought about the provocation
need not be a grave offense; V: the offended party did
a grave offense to the offender
- consider the social standing, place and time
- there cannot be vindication when there is
obfuscation or passion
VI. Passion/Obfuscation
- impulse must arise from a lawless act by the
offended party to be considered mitigating
REQUISITES:
AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES
- there is a crime, there is a criminal and the penalty
is aggravated
- RATIONALE: greater perversity of the offender as
shown by:
(1) motivating power itself
(2) place of commission
(3) means and ways employed
(4) time
(5) personal circumstances of the offender or of the
offended party
- must be alleged in the information and proven
during trial
KINDS:
(1) Generic
- generally apply to all crimes
- dwelling, nighttime, recidivism
(2) Specific
- apply only to particular crimes
- ignominy in crimes against chastity
(3) Qualifying
- change the nature of the crime
- alevosia (treachery) in killing a person
qualifies the act to murder
(4) Inherent
- must of necessity accompany the
commission of the crime
- evident premeditation in robbery, theft,
estafa, adultery and concubinage
QUALIFYING AGGRAVATING vs. GENERIC
AGGRAVATING
1. G: if not offset by mitigating, increases the penalty
to the maximum without exceeding the limit
provided by law; Q: the law specifically provides a
penalty
2. G: may be offset by mitigating; Q: cannot be offset
by mitigating
Art. 14. Aggravating circumstances. The following are
aggravating circumstances:
1. That advantage be taken by the offender of his public
position.
2. That the crime be committed in contempt of or with insult to
public authorities.
3. That the act be committed with insult or in disregard of the
respect due the offended party on account of his rank, age, or
19. That as a means to the commission of a crime a wall, roof,
floor, door, or window be broken.
20. That the crime be committed with the aid of persons under
fifteen years of age, or by means of motor vehicle, airships, or
other similar means.
21. That the wrong done in the commission of the crime be
deliberately augmented by causing other wrong not necessary
for its commission.
AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES:
1. Advantage taken of public position
2. In contempt of or with insult to public authorities
3. With insult or disregard of respect, dwelling
4. Abuse of confidence or obvious ungratefulness
5. Palace of the President, in his presence, place
where public authorities are engaged in the
performance of duties, and religious places
6. Nighttime, uninhabited place, by a band
7. Conflagration, shipwreck, earthquake, epidemic
8. Aid of armed men or persons who afford impunity
9. Recidivist
10. Habitual delinquent
11. Price, reward or promise
12. Inundation, fire, poison, explosion, stranding of
a vessel, derailment of a locomotive
13. Evident premeditation
14. Craft, fraud or disguise
15. Superior strength or means used to weaken
defense
16. Treachery (alevosia)
17. Ignominy
18. Unlawful entry
19. Wall, roof, floor, door or window broken
20. Aid of persons under 15 or by means of motor
vehicle, airships
21. Deliberately augmenting wrong done
I. Advantage Taken of Public Position
NOTA BENE:
X. Reiteracion/Habituality
REQUISITES:
XVII. Ignominy
IGNOMINY - circumstance pertaining to
the moral order, which adds disgrace and
obloquy to the material injury caused by the
crime
Application:
(1) Crimes against chastity
(2) Less serious physical injuries
(3) Light or grave coercion
(4) Murder
- means are employed or circumstances
brought about must tend to make the effects
of the crime more humiliating or to put the
offended party to shame
- add to the victims moral suffering
NOTA BENE: If the dismemberment of the
victims body happened after he was
already dead, there is no ignominy.
XVIII. Unlawful Entry
UNLAWFUL ENTRY - when an entrance
is effected by a way not intended for the
purpose
- to effect entrance and to escape
- this absorbed in trespass to dwelling
Estafa, which is committed by means of
deceit or abuse of confidence, cannot be
committed by means of motor vehicle.
Theft, which is committed by merely taking
personal property which need not be
carried away, cannot be committed by
means of motor vehicles. But if motor
vehicle was used to transport the stolen
items from the scene of the theft to a place
where they can be sold, it is aggravating.
Use of motor vehicles is appreciated in
forcible abduction.
XXI. Deliberately Augmenting the Wrong
Done By Causing Other Wrong not
Necessary for Commission of Crime
CRUELTY - when the culprit enjoys and
delights in making his victim suffer slowly
and gradually, causing him unnecessary
NOTA BENE:
When the use of motor vehicle is only
incidental, it is not aggravating.
physical pain in the consummation of the
criminal act
REQUISITES:
1. Injury caused be deliberately increased by
causing other wrong
2. The other wrong be unnecessary for the
execution of the purpose of the offender
ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES
- taken into consideration as aggravating or
mitigating according to the nature and
effects of the crime and other conditions
attendant
I. Relationship
RELATIONS:
1. Spouse
2. Ascendant
3. Descendant
4. Legitimate, natural, or adopted brother or
sister
5. Relative by affinity in the same degree of
the offender
NOTA BENE;
The relationships between stepmother and
stepdaughter and adopted parents and
adopted child are included by analogy to
ascendant and descendant.
Relationship between niece and uncle is not
included.
When mitigating:
(1) Crimes against property, ex. robbery,
usurpation, fraudulent insolvency, arson
(2) In less serious / slight physical injuries,
if the offended party is a relative of lower
degree than the offender
(3) Trespass to dwelling
When aggravating:
(1) Crimes against persons
1. Crimes against property, such as estafa,
theft, robbery, arson
2. Crimes against chastity
3. Treason
4. Murder
When aggravating:
(1) High degree of instruction and
education, when the offender avails himself
of his learning in committing the crime
NOTA BENE:
Not illiteracy alone, but also lack of
sufficient intelligence are necessary to
invoke the benefit of the alternative
circumstance of lack of instruction.
Lack of instruction must be proved by the
defense.
The question of lack of instruction cannot
be raised for the first time in appellate
court.
REQUISITES:
1. Two or more persons participated in the
criminal resolution (decision to commit the
crime)
- conspiracy
Kinds of Principals:
(1) Principal by direct participation
(2) Principal by induction
(3) Principal by indispensable cooperation
I. Principal by Direct Participation
- personally take part
- GR: present at the crime scene at the time
crime is committed
A: All the offenders are liable for the death
of Z. Under Article 4, the offender is
responsible for all the natural
consequences of his act, regardless of
whether or not he intended for such
consequence to happen. In robbery, the
resistance of the victim is a foreseeable
consequence of the act. Thus, Article 4
comes into play.
Q: A, B, C & D agreed to rob Z.
However, in the course of the execution of
the act, rape was also committed by B.
Are A, C & D also liable for the rape
committed by B?
A: In this instance, only B should be held
answerable for the crime of rape. This is so
despite the proof of conspiracy between all
four of the offenders. Article 4 of the RPC,
which states that the offender is responsible
- irresistible force
- uncontrollable fear
(2) by directly inducing another
- offering reward/promise
- words of command/utterances
REQUISITES:
1. Inducement made directly with the
intention of procuring the commission of
the crime
2. Induce is the determining cause of the
commission
- In the first, the principal by inducement
becomes liable only when the crime is
committed by the principal by direct
participation; in the second, the mere
proposal to commit a felony is punishable in
treason or rebellion and the person to whom
proposal was made should not commit the
crime because otherwise the one who
proposed becomes liable as principal by
inducement
- In the first, the inducement involves any
crime; in the second, the proposal to be
punishable must involve only treason or
rebellion
III. Principal by Indispensable
Cooperation
NOTA BENE:
REQUISITES:
- indispensable
- by another act
REQUISITES:
1. Public officer
REQUISITES:
1. Private person
NOTA BENE:
(1) Prevention
(2) Self-defense
(3) Reformation
(4) Exemplarity
(5) Justice
PENALTIES
CLASSIFICATION OF PENALTIES
Public censure
Penalties common to the three preceding classes:
Fine, and
Bond to keep the peace
2 Classes of penalties:
1. Principal - expressly imposed by court in
the judgment
KINDS:
(1) Divisible
1. Corporal (death)
2. Deprivation of freedom
3. Restriction of freedom
4. Deprivation of rights
5. Pecuniary
1. Capital
2. Afflictive
3. Correctional
4. Light
SCALE
PRINCIPAL PENALTIES
Capital punishment:
Death
Afflictive penalties:
Reclusion perpetua
Reclusion temporal
Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification
Perpetual or temporary special disqualification
Prision mayor
Correctional penalties:
Prision correccional
Arresto mayor
Suspension
Destierro
Light penalties:
Arresto menor
ACCESSORY PENALTIES
Limitations on pardon:
(1) only after conviction
(2) does note extend to cases of
impeachment
Article 37. Cost. - What are included. - Costs shall
include fees and indemnities in the course of the
judicial proceedings, whether they be fixed or
unalterable amounts previously determined by law or
regulations in force, or amounts not subject to
schedule.
Article 42. Prision mayor - Its accessory penalties. The penalty of prision mayor shall carry with it that
of temporary absolute disqualification and that of
perpetual special disqualification from the right of
suffrage which the offender shall suffer although
pardoned as to the principal penalty, unless the same
shall have been expressly remitted in the pardon.
Article 38. Pecuniary liabilities. - Order of payment. In case the property of the offender should not be
sufficient for the payment of all his pecuniary
liabilities, the same shall be met in the following
order:
1. The reparation of the damage caused.
2. Indemnification of consequential damages.
3. The fine.
4. The costs of the proceedings.
Article 39. Subsidiary penalty. - If the convict has no
property with which to meet the fine mentioned in
paragraph 3 of the next preceding article, he shall be
subject to a subsidiary personal liability at the rate of
one day for each eight pesos, subject to the following
rules:
1. If the principal penalty imposed be prision
correccional or arresto and fine, he shall remain
under confinement until his fine referred in the
preceding paragraph is satisfied, but his subsidiary
imprisonment shall not exceed one-third of the term
of the sentence, and in no case shall it continue for
more than one year, and no fraction or part of a day
shall be counted against the prisoner.
2. When the principal penalty imposed be only a fine,
the subsidiary imprisonment shall not exceed six
months, if the culprit shall have been prosecuted for a
grave or less grave felony, and shall not exceed
fifteen days, if for a light felony.
3. When the principal penalty imposed is higher than
prision correccional no subsidiary imprisonment
shall be imposed upon the culprit.
4. If the principal penalty imposed is not to be
executed by confinement in a penal institution, but
such penalty is of fixed duration, the convict, during
the period of time established in the preceding rules,
shall continue to suffer the same deprivation as those
of which the principal penalty consists.
APPLICATION OF PENALTIES
Kinds:
(1) Compound - single act, two or more
grave or less grave felonies (delito
conpuesto)
(2) Complex crime proper - an offense is a
necessary means to commit the other (delito
complejo)
proper
- P: no conviction
(4) As to effects
NOTA BENE:
6. Arresto mayor,
7. Arresto menor,
8. Destierro,
- Art. 48
- 3-fold rule
SCALE NO. 1
1. Death,
2. Reclusion perpetua,
3. Reclusion temporal,
4. Prision mayor,
5. Prision correccional,
6. Arresto mayor,
7. Destierro,
8. Arresto menor,
9. Public censure,
10. Fine.
SCALE NO. 2
1. Perpetual absolute disqualification,
4. Public censure,
5. Fine.
Article 72. Preference in the payment of the civil
liabilities. - The civil liabilities of a person found
guilty of two or more offenses shall be satisfied by
following the chronological order of the dates of the
final judgments rendered against him, beginning with
the first in order of time.
RPC:
- MAX: that which, in view of the attending
circumstances, could be properly imposed
under the rules of the RPC
- MIN: within the range of the penalty next
lower to that prescribed by the Code for the
offense
CIVIL LIABILITY
Persons Civilly Liable for Felonies
Commutation is proper:
(1) When the convict sentenced to death is
over 70 yrs of age (Art. 83)
(2) When eight justices of SC fail to reach a
decision for the affirmance of the death
penalty
Article 103. Subsidiary civil liability of other persons. The subsidiary liability established in the next
preceding article shall also apply to employers,
teachers, persons, and corporations engaged in any
kind of industry for felonies committed by their
servants, pupils, workmen, apprentices, or employees
in the discharge of their duties.
1. Restitution;