MODULE Criminal Law (Book 1)

CHAPTER IV

Persons Criminally Liable for

Felonies

At the end of this chapter the students will be able to:

1. Define the following persons criminally liable for
felonies
2. Understand corpus delicti

The following are criminally liable for “grave and less

grave felonies” (Article 16, RPC):

1. Principals;
2. Accomplices; and
3. accessories.

For “light felonies,” the following are criminally liable:

1. principals,
2. accomplices.

“The classification under Article 16 xxx, is true only under the RPC and is
not used under special laws because the penalties under the latter are never
graduated. The term ‘principal’ is not used when the crime is a violation of
special law; ‘offender’ is used instead.”

In light felonies, accessories are not liable.

Only natural persons can be the active subject of crime

because of the highly personal nature of the criminal
responsibility. However, under certain special laws,
juridical persons are criminally liable. Under the

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corporation law, public service law, securities law and election code,
corporations may fine for certain violations of their provisions.

A juridical person is a being the subject of legal existence, susceptible of

rights and obligations, or of being the subject of juridical relations. Examples of
juridical persons are corporations, partnerships, corporation sole, testate or
intestate.

“There are instances where the law specifies the officers who shall be
criminally responsible for acts done in behalf of the corporation and are violative
of that law. Thus, under P.D. 1612 (Anti-fencing law), if the fence is a
partnership, firm, corporation or association, the one liable is the president,
manager or officer thereof who knows or should have known that the items were
stolen goods. Under B.P. 22 (bouncing checks law), the person who signed the
bouncing check in behalf of the juridical person which is the drawer thereof shall
criminally liable.”

Principals

Under Art. 17 of the RPC, the following are considered principals:

1) Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act (Principal by
direct participation);
2) Those who directly force or induce others to commit it (Principal by
induction); and
3) Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another act
without which it would not have been accomplished (Principal by
indispensable cooperation).

In People v. Lao (G.R. No. L-10473, January 28, 1961), it was held that a
common-law wife who induced the killing of another common-law wife of her
husband by giving money to the killer is a principal by induction, while the killer
is a principal is a principal by direct participation.

To be liable as principals, the offender must fall under

any of the three concepts defined in Article 17.

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Accomplices

Accomplices are those persons who, not being a principal under article 17,
cooperate in the execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts. (Art.
18, RPC)

Accomplishes and conspirator, distinguished –

Conspirators are the authors of a crime; accomplices are merely

instrument who perform acts not essential to the perpetration of the offense.

Conspiracy

Under Art. 8 (par. 2), conspiracy exist

when two or more persons come to an
agreement concerning the commission of a
felony and decide to commit it. Note that the
conspiracy contemplated in the first requisite
is not a felony, but only a manner of incurring
criminal liability.

The agreement may be deduced from

the manner in which the offense was
committed.

If conspiracy is proved, all the

conspirators are criminally liable for the crime charged and proved. The act of
one is the act of all.

While conspiracy may be implied from the circumstances attending the

commission of the crime, it is nevertheless a rule that conspiracy must be
established by positive and conclusive evidence.

Accessories

Under Art. 19 of the RPC, accessories are those who, having knowledge
of the commission of the crime, and without having participated therein, either
as principals or accomplices, take part subsequent to its commission in any the
following manners:

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1. By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effects

of the crime;
2. By concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or
instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery; and
3. By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principals of
the crime, provided the accessories acts with abuse of his public functions
or whenever the author of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide,
murder, or an attempt to take the life of the Chief Executive, or is known
to be habitually guilty of some other crime.

However, certain accessories are exempt from criminal liability (Art. 20,
RPC) – Those who are such with respect to their spouses, ascendants,
descendants, legitimate, natural, and adopted brothers and sisters, or relatives
by affinity within the same degrees, with the exception of accessories falling
under paragraph 1 of Art. 19.

Corpus Delicti

Proof of corpus delicti is indispensable in

prosecution for felonies and offenses. It
means the actual commission by someone of
the particular crime charged.

Corpus delicti is the fact of the commission

of the crime that may be proved by the
testimonies of eyewitnesses. In its legal
sense, it does not necessarily refer to the
body of the person murdered.

It literally means “the body or substance of the crime.” But applied to a

particular offense, it means the actual commission by someone of the particular
crime charged.

Reference:

The Revised Penal Code Book I

Understanding Criminal Law

Atty. Victor Tulalian

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