REVIEWER FOR CRIMINAL LAW 2 MIDTERM EXAMS

Who has the power to define and punish crimes? The State, in the exercise of its police powers, has the power to define and punish crimes through the legislature, subject to the following limitations: 1. 2. that no bill of attainder or no ex-post facto law shall be passed; no person shall be made to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law

Due process of law is the process of law which hears before it condemns, proceeds upon inquiry, and renders judgment only after trial. Ex Post Facto Law is a law passed by Congress which gives retroactive effect prejudicial to the accused. It 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. makes an act criminal which was innocent when done, and provides punishment for such an act. aggravates a crime, or makes it greater than when it was committed changes the punishment or inflicts a greater punishment than the law attached to the crime when commited alters the legal rules of evidence and authorizes conviction upon less or different testimony than what the law required at the time of the commission of the offense assuming to regulate civil rights or remedies only, imposes a penalty or deprivation of right for something which was lawful when done deprives a person accused of a crime of some lawful protection which he has become entitled.

Bill of attainder is a bill that inflicts punishment without trial Penalty is the suffering inflicted by the State on an individual for the latters transgression of the law Theories Justifying Penalty Justice Exemplarity Reformation Prevention Self-defense Article 23. What are the effects of pardon by the offended party? Pardon by the Offended Party As to criminal action As to civil action will not extinguish criminal marriage by the offended party liability except will not extinguish civil liability of the accused except when there is express waiver of the offended party

Article 25 Classification of Penalties Capital Punishment Afflictive Penalties Death Reclusion Perpetua Reclusion Temporal Perpetual or Temporary Absolute Disqualification Perpetual or Temporary Accessory Penalties: Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification Perpetual or temporary special disqualification Suspension from public office, the right to vote, and be voted for, the profession or calling

Special Disqualification Prision Mayor Correctional Punishment Prision Correccional Arresto Mayor Suspension Destierro Arresto Menor Public Censure

Civil interdiction Indemnification Forfeiture or confiscation of instruments and proceeds of the offense Payment of costs

Light Penalties

Penalties common to the three preceding classes: fine, and bond to keep the peace Principal penalties those expressly imposed by the court in the judgment and conviction Accessory penalties those that are deemed included in the imposition of the principal penalties Classification of principal penalties: 1. divisible can be divided into three periods (minimum, medium, maximum) after taking into consideration the mitigating and aggravating circumstances attendant to the crime cannot be divided (death, life imprisonment, reclusion perpetua, perpetual absolute or special disqualification, public censure)

2.

indivisible

Classification of penalties according to subject matter 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. corporal deprivation of freedom restriction of freedom deprivation of rights fine

Classification of penalties according to gravity 1. 2. 3. 4. capital afflictive correctional light Fine Shall be considered Afflictive Correctional Light Penalty Article 27 Duration of Penalties 20 years and one day to 40 years 12 years and 1 day to 20 years 6 years and 1 day to 12 years 6 months and 1 day to 6 years 1 month and 1 day to 6 months 1 day to 30 days if exceeding P6,000.00 not more than P6,000.00 but less than P200.00 less than P200.00

Article 26

Reclusion Perpetua Reclusion Temporal Prision mayor and temporary disqualification Prision correccional, suspension, destierro Arresto mayor Arresto menor

Article 28

Computation of Penalties the duration of temporary penalties is from the day on which the judgment has become final the duration of penalty consisting in deprivation of liberty is from the day that the offender is placed at the disposal of judicial authorities for the enforcement of the penalty is from the day on which the offender commences to serve his sentence

When offender is in prison When offender is not in prison

The duration of other penalties

Article 34

Civil Interdiction

Deprivation of Parental authority Deprivation of Guardianship Deprivation of Marital authority Deprivation of Right to manage his property Deprivation of Right to dispose of such property by any act or any conveyance inter vivos Recidivist one, who at the time of his trial for one crime, shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of another crime embraced in the same title of this Code one who, within ten years from his last conviction, is accused the third time or oftener of the crime of theft, robbery, physical injuries, falsification, or estafa (code: TRIFE)

Habitual Delinquent

Article 35

Effects of Pardon Pardon by the Chief Executive (President) As to civil action criminal liability is will not extinguish civil liability of the accused because civil action is not a concern of the government but of the offended party

As to criminal action If absolute extinguished pardon,

1. 2.

Shall not work the restoration of the right to hold public office, or the right of suffrage, unless such rights be expressly restored by the terms of pardon Shall in no case exempt the culprit from the payment of the civil indemnity imposed upon him by the sentence

For every criminal action, civil action is implied except when the offended party Waived the filing of the civil action Institute a separate civil action Reserve the filing of a civil action Civil damages that may be claimed: Mental Exemplary Nominal

Temperate Actual Liquidated Article 38. Pecuniary Liabilities

In case property is not sufficient, the pecuniary liabilities shall be met in the following order: Reparation of damages Indemnification of damages Fine Cost of the proceedings Article 39. Subsidiary Penalties

If convict has no property to meet the fine, 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 penalty imposed is 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; 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; When the principal penalty imposed is higher than prision correccional, no subsidiary imprisonment shall be imposed upon the culprit; If the principal penalty is not be executed by confinement in a penal institution, but such penalty is for 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; and The subsidiary personal liability which the convict have suffered by reason of his insolvency shall not relieve him from the fine in case his financial circumstances should improve.

2.

3. 4.

6.

Article 45. Every penalty shall carry with it: 1. 2. forfeiture of the proceeds of the crime; forfeiture of the instruments and tools with which it was committed

Such proceeds shall be confiscated and forfeited in favor of the government unless; 1. they be property of a third person not liable for the offense, but subject of unlawful commerce shall be destroyed.

Article 48. Penalty for complex crimes Q. A. How is complex crime committed? 1. 2. When a single act constitutes two or more grave and less grave felonies (compound crime) When an offense is a necessary means of committing another offense (complex crime proper)

Q. A. Q. A.

What is the penalty to be imposed for complex crime? The penalty for the most serious crime shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its maximum period. What are the instances where you cannot complex crimes? 1. 2. grave and less grave felonies with light felonies grave and less grave felonies under the Revised Penal Code (general law) with a special law Example 2 separate offenses: 1. illegal possession of firearms (RA 8294) 2. homicide (RPC) * RA8294 states that when a person uses an unlicensed firearm to kill a person, unlicensed firearm becomes an aggravating circumstance (absorbed by homicide or murder) 3. rebellion with common crimes Reasons 1. because common crime is absorbed by the crime of rebellion 2. because common crimes are committed in furtherance of rebellion 3. because rebellion cannot be committed without killing or robbery

Continuous Crime is not a complex crime, because the offender in continued or continuous crime does not perform a single act, but a series of acts, and one offense is not a necessary means of committing the other. * only one criminal purpose Transitory Crime - moving crime; part of the crime is done in one place, and another part of the crime in another place. Example, kidnapping a person for random by forcibly taking the person from Manila to Bulacan where the ransom was demanded. Q. What are the bases for determination of the extent of penalty to be imposed under the RPC? S P A Article 49 1. 1. 2. 3. The stage reached by the crime in its development (consummated, frustrated, attempted) The participation therein of the persons liable The aggravating or mitigating circumstances attendant to the commission of the crime Penalty to be imposed upon the principals when the crime committed is different from what is intended

If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be higher than that corresponding to the offense which the accused intended to commit, the penalty corresponding to the latter shall be imposed in its maximum period. If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be lower than that corresponding to the one which the accused intended to commit, the penalty for the former shall be imposed in its maximum period. The rule established by the next preceding paragraph shall not be applicable if the acts committed by the guilty person shall also constitute an attempt or frustration of another crime,

2.

3.

if the law prescribes a higher penalty for either of the latter offenses, in which case the penalty provided for the attempted or the frustrated crime shall be imposed in its maximum period. Aberratio ictus Error in personae Prater intentionem mistake in the blow mistake in identity of the victim where a more serious consequence not intended by the offender befalls the same person

Article 59

Failure to commit the crime because the means employed or the aims sought are impossible or inadequate

Q. A.

What is an impossible crime? The intended crime was not committed because the means employed or the aims sought are impossible or inadequate Impossibility has been used as a defense to charges of attempted crimes. Historically, courts recognized that a party could not be convicted of criminal attempt if the actual crime was legally impossible to accomplish. For example, if a person was accused of attempting to receive stolen property but the property was not actually stolen, the defense of legal impossibility could arise. Legal impossibility is distinguished from factual impossibility, where facts unknown to the person attempting to commit a crime render the crime factually impossible to complete. For example, if a pickpocket attempts to steal a wallet but no wallet is present, factual impossibility may exist. Courts generally have recognized legal impossibility as a defense to a criminal attempt, but not factual impossibility. They reasoned that since a person attempting to commit a crime had formed the required intent to commit the crime, it was irrelevant that the crime was factually impossible to complete. Impossibility as a defense to a criminal attempt has largely been rejected by modern U.S. statutes and courts. The Model Penal Code which many states have adopted since its introduction in 1962expressly rejects impossibility as a defense to the charge of criminal attempt ( 5.01 [1995]).

Q. A.

Why is impossible crime penalized? 1. 2. Because of the perversity of the act Because of the criminal tendency of the offender

Article 63. Rules for the Application of Indivisible Penalty In all cases in which the law prescribes a single indivisible penalty, it shall be applied by the courts regardless of any mitigating or aggravating circumstances that may have attended the commission of the deed. In all cases in which the law prescribes a penalty composed of two indivisible penalties, the following rules shall be observed the application thereof: Only 1 aggravating greater penalty No mitigating, no aggravating lesser penalty Some mitigating, lesser penalty no aggravating greater penalty lesser penalty the lesser penalty.

Both mitigating and aggravating offsetting in consideration of number and importance

the courts shall reasonably allow them to offset one another in consideration of their number and importance, for the purpose of applying the penalty in accordance with the preceding rules, according to the result of such compensation.

Article 64. Rules for application of penalties which contain three periods: Neither aggravating nor mitigating medium period Only mitigating minimum period Only mitigating maximum period Both mitigating and aggravating offsetting according to relative weight Two or more mitigating and no aggravating next lower penalty to that prescribed by law medium period; minimum period maximum period the court shall reasonably offset those of one class against the other according to their relative weight the court shall impose the penalty next lower to that prescribed by law, in the period that it may deem applicable, according to the number and nature of such circumstances the courts shall not imposed a penalty greater than that prescribed by law, in its maximum period Within the limits of each period, the courts shall determine the extent of the penalty according to the number and nature of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances and the greater or lesser extent of the evil produced by the crime Article 70. The Three-Fold Rule

The maximum duration of the convicts sentence shall not be more than three times the length of time corresponding to the most severe of penalties imposed upon him. Applies only when the convict has to serve at leas four sentences. Three different systems of penalty 1. material accumulation system All penalties for all the violations were imposed even if they reached beyond the natural span of human life juridical accumulation system Three-fold rule the absorption system (lesser penalties are absorbed by the greater penalties) Observed in the imposition of penalty in complex crimes Legal period of duration of divisible penalties.

2. 3.

Article 76.

The legal period of duration of divisible penalties shall be considered as divided into three parts, forming three periods, the minimum, the medium, and the maximum, in the manner shown in the following table: Penalties Time included in its entirety Time in Minimum Period Time in Medium Period Time in Maximum Period

Reclusion Temporal Prision mayor, absolute disqualification and special temporary disqualification Prision correccional, suspension and destierro Arresto Mayor Arresto Menor

12 yrs and 1 day to 20 years 6 yrs and 1 day to 12 yrs

From 12 yrs and 1 day to 14 yrs and 8 months From 6 yrs and 1 day to 8 yrs

From 14 yrs, 8 mos and 1 day to 17 yrs and 4 mos From 8 yrs and 1 day to 10 yrs

From 17 yrs, 4 mos and 1 day to 20 yrs From 10 yrs and 1 day to 12 yrs

From 6 months and 1 day to 6 years From 1 month and 1 day to 6 mos From 1 to 30 days

From 6 months and 1 day to 2 yrs and 4 mos From 1 2 mos From 1 10 days

From 2 yrs, 4 mos and 1 day to 4 yrs and 2 mos From 2 mos and 1 day to 4 mos From 11 20 days

From 4 yrs, 2 mos and day to 6 yrs From 4 months and 1 day to 6 mos From 21 to 30 days

Article 76. Suspension of the execution and service of penalties in case of penalties When a convict shall become insane after final sentence has been pronounced, the execution of said sentence shall be suspended only with regard to personal penalty, the provisions of the second paragraph circumstance No. 1 of Article 12 being observed in the corresponding cases. If at any time the convict shall recover his reason, his sentence shall be executed, unless the penalty shall have prescribed. The respective provisions of this section shall also be observed if the insanity or imbecility occurs while the convict is serving his sentence. Q. A. When is service of penalty suspended? Service of penalty is suspended in the following circumstances: 1. 2. 3. 4. Article 77 Q. A. What is complex penalty? It is a penalty prescribed by law composed of three distinct penalties, each forming a period, the lightest of them minimum, the next medium, and the most severe, the maximum period. when when when when convict is insane; the convict is a minor; the convict is a pregnant woman; convict is 70 years old or over.

What is Inderteminate Sentence Law (ISLAW)? That the court, in imposing the penalty as punished under the Revised Penal Code, shall sentence the accused to the maximum term under the said code after considering the circumstance and the minimum shall be within the range of the penalty next lower in degree as prescribed by the Code for the offense.

If the offense is punished by any other law, the court shall sentence the accused to the maximum but not to exceed the maximum fixed by law, and the minimum shall not be less than the minimum fixed by that law. Crimes where ISLAW does not apply: PREDEEMS-DLTVHC Piracy Rebellion Espionage Death Penalty Evasion of Service of Sentence Escape from Confinement Misprision of Treason Sedition Destierro Life Imprisonment Treason (conviction) Violation of Conditional Pardon Habitual Delinquent Conspiracy and Proposal to Commit Treason, rebellion, Coup detat, and sedition

Purpose of ISLAW 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. to to to to to uplift valuable human material redeem valuable human material prevent unnecessary deprivation of personal liberty prevent excessive deprivation of personal liberty prevent deprivation of economic usefulness

Offenses to be committed by the habitual delinquent (under ISLAW) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Theft Robbery Injuries (Physical) Falsification Estafa

Rights of the Accused IPITECSAC Right Right Right Right Right Right Right Right Right to to to to to to to to to be presumed be be be a Innocent until proven guilty Present at every stage of proceedings Informed of the nature and cause of charges against him Testify in his behalf Exempt from self-incrimination Cross-examination and confrontation Speedy, impartial, and public trial Appeal Compulsory processes