e) Conspiracy and proposal

- Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony are punishable only in the cases in which the law
specially provides a penalty therefor.

Conspiracy

- There is conspiracy when two or more persons come to an agreement

concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it.

- Conspiracy may be inferred from the acts of the accused before, during and
after the commission of the crime, all of which indubitably point to or
indicate:
o A joint purpose;
o A concert of action; and
o A community of interest

- Conspiracy must be proved. The same degree of proof required for

establishing the crime is required to support a finding of conspiracy.

- Conspiracy presupposes the existence of malice since it involves the

meeting of the minds of the co-conspirators on the manner and mode of
committing a crime.

o Conspiracy is not the product of negligence but of intentionality on

the part of cohorts.

- May a co-conspirator be acquitted while others convicted?

o Yes. As long as the acquittal of a co-conspirator does not remove

the basis of a charge of conspiracy, other conspirators may be found
guilty of the offense.
o In an indictment based on conspiracy, the acquittal of a conspirator
does not absolve the co-conspirator from criminal liability. If the
prosecution fails to prove conspiracy, the alleged conspirators
should be individually responsible for their respective acts.

- The act of one is the act of all

o When conspiracy is established, all who participated therein,

irrespective of the quantity and quality of his participation is liable
equally, whether the conspiracy is pre-planned or instantaneous.
 o The criminal liability of one is the same as the criminal liability of the
other, unless one or some of the conspirators committed another
crime, which is not part of the intended crime.

- Two concepts of conspiracy:

1) Conspiracy as a crime by itself

The crime subject of conspiracy is not yet committed but the mere
act of conspiring is defined and punished as a crime;

2) Conspiracy as a means of committing a crime

Under this concept, distinction should be made between:

a) Conspiracy where THERE IS ACTUAL PRE-AGREEMENT

OR PLANNING STAGE/Pre-planned conspiracy

General rule: A conspirator is liable as long as he

appeared in the scene of the crime.
o Exception: When he is the mastermind who
is liable whether or not he appears. This is
because he is a principal by inducement
and without his inducement the crime
would not have been committed.

It is necessary that a conspirator should have

performed some overt act as a direct or indirect
contribution in the execution of the crime planned
to be committed.

o The overt act may consist of:

1) Active participation;
2) Moral assistance;
3) Exerting moral ascendancy over the
other conspirators

Only the actual perpetrators are to be held liable

for acts beyond the agreement of the conspirators.
 b) IMPLIED CONSPIRACY or instantaneous

A conspiracy that is DEDUCED FROM THE ACTS of

the offenders.

The concerted acts of the parties to achieve the

same objective signify conspiracy.

Offenders acted in concert during the commission

of the crime; the agreement to pursue a common
design and united purpose was instantaneous.

For liability to attach, it is essential that the

conspirator participated in the commission of the
crime. His mere presence or approval of the crime
without more will not make the alleged conspirator
liable because there would be no basis for deducing
conspiracy.

- Arias doctrine

o All heads of offices have to rely to a reasonable extent on their

subordinates and on the good faith of those who prepare bids,
purchase supplies, or enter into negotiations.

o Arias doctrine as defense:

When infraction consisting in the reliance in good faith,
albeit misplaced by a head of office on a subordinate upon
whom the primary responsibility rests, the Arias doctrine
must be held to prevail.
Considering that negligence cannot co-exist with
conspiracy, the liability of the head of office shall be thru
CULPA but that of his subordinates thru DOLO, sans
conspiracy.

Proposal to commit conspiracy

- There is proposal when the person who has decided to commit a felony
proposes its execution to some other person or persons.
f) Multiple offenders (differences, rules, effects)

(i) Recidivism 2 in 1

- Offender previously convicted by final judgment Executory

- 2 CONVICTIONS embraced in ONE TITLE of the RPC

- Period between the two convictions and their penalty are immaterial

- Generic aggravating circumstance

- Disqualifies the convict from crediting preventive imprisonment

- An exception to the rule on immediate release under Article 29

(ii) Habituality (Reiteracion)

- Offender has been previously punished has served sentence

- Offender must have:

o Committed a prior crime with equal or greater penalty; or

o Previously committed two crimes or more with lighter penalty;

- The crimes may not be covered under the same title

- Penalty of offenses is material when there is a total of only two crimes

- Generic aggravating circumstance

(iii) Quasi-Recidivism

- Offender previously convicted by final judgment executory

- He committed a felony before serving or while serving sentence

- The two felonies need not be similar

- A special aggravating circumstance

 - Penalty and title of the two offenses are immaterial

(iv) Habitual Delinquency

- Offender must be previously convicted for the crime of: F-E-R-T-S

o Falsification;
o Estafa;
o Robbery;
o Theft;
o Serious or Less Serious Physical Injury

- There are three or more convictionsexecutory

- He is found guilty of any of the above crimes (FERTS) within 10 years from
his last conviction, a third time or oftener.

- A special aggravating circumstance

- Exception to the rule of retroactivity of penal laws

- An exception to the rule on immediate release under Article 29

g) Continuing crime

- In the Rules of Court, it is one where the elements of the offense were committed in
different localities such that the accused may be indicted in any of those localities.

> Violation of B.P.22 is in the nature of a continuing crime. Venue is determined

by the place where the elements of making, issuing or drawing of the check and
delivery thereof are present.

- It may also refer to any offense which is continuing in time.

Example:

> Rebellion, insurrection, conspiracy and proposal to commit such crimes are in
the nature of continuing offenses.
h) Complex crimes and special complex crimes

COMPLEX CRIMES

- Article 48. When a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies, or
when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other, the penalty for the
most serious crime shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its maximum period.

> The two or more felonies may be dolo or culpa, as long as they are grave or
less grave felonies.

> When a light felony likewise resulted, the light felony shall be treated as a
separate offense.

- The effect of complex crimes on the indeterminate sentence on the convict.

> The minimum of the indeterminate sentence shall be imposed in the

maximum period.

- Can offenses be complexed with felonies?

> No. Offenses punished in special laws cannot be complexed with felonies
penalized under the RPC. (People v. Araneta)

- Procedural requirement for an accused to be liable for a complex crime:

> It is a condition precedent that there is ONE INFORMATION charging a

complex felony.

> The accused cannot be sentenced for a complex crime with one penalty (the
most serious in the maximum) where two separate informations were filed.

- Where there are two informations filed, the accused should be meted
a separate penalty for each of the crime charged in each information,
even though a joint trial of the two criminal cases was held and a
consolidated decision rendered.

- Two kinds of complex crimes

1) Compound Crime

- A single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies. The
basis of compound crime is the singularity of the act.

Example:
 > The single act of throwing a hand grenade, killing some and
seriously wounding a number of persons

- The penalty provided is for the most serious in the maximum period.

- It has been held that if the act or acts resulted from a single criminal
impulse, it constitutes a single offense.

- They are not two intentions that characterize two separate crimes.

2) Complex Crime Proper

- An offense is a necessary means for committing the other.

- The two crimes thus committed comprise one complex crime.

- The first offense is committed to insure and facilitate the commission

of the next crime.

Example:

When a bank custodian forged the signature of officers authorized

to sign the check and deposited the check in the account of a
fictitious payee, the custodians act of taking the value of the check
results in a complex crime of Qualified Theft Thru Falsification Of
Commercial Document. The falsification was a necessary means to
commit qualified theft.

SPECIAL COMPLEX CRIMES

- Special complex crimes are also called Composite Crimes

- These are crimes which in the eyes of the law are treated as single
indivisible offenses although in reality are made up of more than one
crime.

- Even though they are made up of more than one crime, there is only one
provision of law violated which defines the specific crimes composing the
indivisible felony and imposing a SPECIFIC PENALTY therefor.
Example:
o Robbery with homicide

- Comparison between special complex crimes and complex crimes:

COMPOSIT CRIME COMPLEX CRIME

- The combination of - The combination is

the offenses is fixed not specified, but in
general terms. That
by law.
is grave and/or less
Example: grave; or one being
kidnapping with necessary to
rape (Art. 267) commit the other.
Example: Forcible
abduction (Art. 342)
and Rape (266-A)

- The penalty for the - The penalty is not

specified specific but for the
combination is most serious
offense.
specific.

- All the excess - The others may be

offenses treated as separate
accompanying the crimes.
specified
combination are
absorbed.

- If a light felony - The light felony may

accompanied the be subject to
commission of the separate
composite offense,
information.
such light felony is
absorbed.

- Penalize in a single - Penalized by two

provision of law provisions of law

- Offenses under - It is not possible to

special law can complex one felony
become composite. and one offense,
under Article 48.