LO 2: A) FELONIES

B) CONSPIRACY AND PROPOSAL TO COMMIT

FELONIES.
TOPIC 01: CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES AS TO MODES OF
COMMISSION, STAGES OF EXECUTION AND GRAVITY.

CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES AS TO MODES OF COMMISSION, STAGES OF

EXECUTION
ARTICLE 6. Stages in the commission of a crime (RPC)
I. Introduction: Generation of a Crime
A. The first is the Mental Stage
General Rule: Mental acts such as thoughts, ideas, opinions and beliefs, are
not subject of penal legislations. One may express an idea which is contrary
to law, morals or is unconventional, but as long as he does not act on them or
induce others to act on them, such mental matters are outside the realm of
penal law and the person may not be subjected to criminal prosecution.
CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES AS TO MODES OF COMMISSION, STAGES OF
EXECUTION
ARTICLE 6. Stages in the commission of a crime (RPC)
I. Introduction: Generation of a Crime
A. The first is the Mental Stage
General Rule: Mental acts such as thoughts, ideas, opinions and beliefs, are
not subject of penal legislations. One may express an idea which is contrary
to law, morals or is unconventional, but as long as he does not act on them or
induce others to act on them, such mental matters are outside the realm of
penal law and the person may not be subjected to criminal prosecution.
B. The Second: The External Stage which is where the accused performs acts
which are observable
1). The Preparatory acts: Acts which may or may not lead to the commission of a
concrete crime. Being equivocal they are not as rule punishable except when
there is an express provision of law punishing specific preparatory acts.
Example: (i) the general rule: buying of a gun, bolo or poison, even if the purpose
is to use these to kill a person; so also with conspiracies and proposals. (ii) the
exception: possession of picklocks and false keys is punished; as with
conspiracies to commit treason, rebellion, sedition and coup d’etat .
2) The Acts of execution: the attempted, frustrated and consumated stages
II. Application of Article 6:
Only to intentional felonies by positive acts but not to: (i). Felonies by omission (ii) Culpable felonies
and (iii) Violations of special laws, unless the special law provides for an attempted or frustrated
stage. Examples of the exception are The Dangerous Drugs Law which penalizes an attempt to violate
some of its provisions, and The Human Security Act of 2007
III. The attempted stage:
"the accused commences the commission of a felonious act directly by overt acts but does not perform
all the acts of execution due to some cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance”
A).(1). The attempt which the Penal Code punishes is that which has a connection to a particular,
concrete offense, that which is the beginning of the execution of the offense by overt acts of the
perpetrator, leading directly to the its realization and commission (2) The act must not be equivocal
but indicates a clear intention to commit a particular and specific felony. Thus the act of a notorious
criminal in following a woman can not be the attempted stage of any felony.
B). Overt or external act is some physical deed or activity, indicating the intention to
commit a particular crime, more than a mere planning or preparation, which if carried out
to is complete termination following its natural course, without being frustrated by
external obstacles nor by the voluntary desistance of the perpetrator, will logically and
necessarily ripen into a concrete offense.
IV. The Frustrated Stage:
the accused has performed all the acts of execution necessary to produce the felony but
the crime is not produced by reason of causes independent of the will of the accused.
A. The accused has passed the subjective phase and is now in the objective phase, or that
portion in the commission of the crime where the accused has performed the last act
necessary to produce the intended crime and where he has no more control over the
results of his acts.
B. The non-production of the crime should not be due to the acts of the accused
himself, for if it were he would be liable not for the frustrated stage of the
intended crime, but possibly for another offense.
Thus: where the accused shot the victim mortally wounding him, but he himself
saved the life of his victim, his liability is that for serious physical injuries
as the intent to kill is absent.
V. Consummated.
When all the elements of the crime are present whether it be the intended
crime or a different crime