The United States vs Protasio Eduave

Stages of Commission-Definition

Date: February 2, 1917

Ponente: Justice Moreland

SUMMARY: of execution for the commission of a felony be accomplished and

Protasio Eduave rushed upon a girl and struck her from behind with a bolo,
which produced a gash and severed all of the muscles in the lumbar region.
Motive of the crime was that the accused was incensed at the girl for
accusing him of raping her and causing her pregnancy. Defendant was found
guilty of frustrated murder.
ISSUES:
1. WON the defendant is guilty of murder as opposed to homicide?
2. WON the defendant is guilty of frustrated murder as opposed to
attempted murder?
FACTS:
1. Defendant rushed upon the girl from behind
2. Defendant used a bolo and delivered a blow to the girl's back,
which created a gash 8 ½ inches long and 2 inches deep in the
lumbar region and severed all the muscles therein
3. The girl had previously accused the defendant of raping her and
causing her pregnancy
4. Defendant was the querido of the girl's mother
5. Defendant, with the assumption of having killed the girl, threw the
body into the bushes
6. Defendant gave himself up and proclaimed that he had killed the
girl
that the expected consequence does not arise by reason of some
cause or accident other than the the defendant's voluntary
desistance.
◦ All acts of execution have been performed by the
defendant
◦ Defendant voluntarily desisted from doing any further acts
as he assumed that the girl was dead
As opposed to an attempted felony, wherein the defendant does
not accomplish all acts of execution due to the interference of
some foreign force or agency.
RULING: Judgement of trial court affirmed. Defendant is found guilty of
frustrated murder. Penalty imposed modified to 13 years of cadena
temporal there being neither aggravating or mitigating circumstance.
Definition of Terms:
Aleviosa
-Treachery
Querido
-Male darling/paramour

HOLDING:
1. The defendant is guilty of murder due to the qualifying circumstance
of treachery as he had not given the girl a chance to defend herself
by rushing to her from the back.
2. The defendant is guilty of frustrated murder. Frustrated felony, as
provided by the Penal Code Art. 3, requires that all necessary acts