CRIMINAL LAW 1

FINAL EXAMINATION
1. Discuss the four classifications of aggravating circumstances.
2. A, brother of B, with the intention of having a night out with his friends, took the
coconut shell which is being used by B as a bank for coins from inside their locked
cabinet, using their common key. Forthwith, A broke the coconut shell outside of
their home in the presence of his friends, thus committing the crime of robbery. Is A
criminally liable?
3. When A arrived home, he found B raping his daughter. Upon seeing A, B ran away. A
took his gun and shot B, killing him. Charged with homicide, A claimed that he acted
in defense of his daugher’s honor. Is A correct? If not, can A claim the benefit of any
mitigating circumstance or circumstances?
4. A chanced upon three men who were attacking B with fist blows. C, one of the men,
was about to stab B with a knife. Not knowing that B was actually the aggressor
because he had earlier challenged the three men to a fight, A shot C as the latter was
about to stab B. May A invoke the defense of a stranger as a justifying circumstance?
5. After killing the victim, the accused absconded. He succeeded in eluding the police
until he surfaced and surrendered to the authorities about two years later. Charged
with murder, he pleaded not guilty but after the prosecution had presented two
witnesses implicating him to the crime, he changed his plea to that of guilty. Should
the mitigating circumstances of voluntary surrender and plea of guilt be considered
in favour of the accused?
6. Jose, Domingo, Manolo and Fernando, armed with bolos, at about 1:00 AM, robbed
a house at a desolate place where Danilo, his wife, and three daughters were living.
While the four were in the process of ransacking Danilo’s house, Fernando, noticing
that one of Danilo’s daughters was trying to get away, ran after her and finally caught
up with her. Fernando, before bringing back the daughter to the house, raped her
first. Thereafter the four carted away the belongings of Danilo and Family. Under the
facts of the case, what aggravating circumstances may be appreciated against the
four accused?
7. Distinguish between recidivism and quasi recidivism.
8. Distinguish between recidivism and habitual delinquency.
9. The accused and the victim occupied adjacent apartments, each being a separate
dwelling unit of one big house. The accused suspected his wife of having an illicit
relationship with the victim. One afternoon, he saw the victim and his wife together
on board a vehicle. In the evening of that day, the accused went to bed early and
tried to sleep, but being so annoyed over the suspected relation between his wife
 and the victim, he could not sleep. Later in the night, he resolved to kill the victim.
He rose from bed and took hold of a knife. He entered the apartment of the victim
through an unlocked window. Inside, he saw the victim soundly asleep. He
thereupon stabbed the victim, inflicting several wounds which caused his death
within a few hours. Can evident premeditation, treachery, night time and unlawful
entry be appreciated against the accused?
10. A was invited to a drinking session by friends. After having had a drink too many, A
and B had a heated argument, during which A stabbed B. As a result B suffered
serious physical injuries. May the intoxication of A be considered aggravating or
mitigating?
11. Distinguish between accomplice and accessory.
12. What are the elements of fencing?
13. King went to the house of Laura who was alone. Laura offered him a drink and after
consuming 3 bottles of beer, King made advances to her and with force and violence,
ravished her. Then King killed Laura and took her jewelry. Doming, King’s adopted
brother, learned about the incident. He went to Laura’s house, hid her body, cleaned
everything and washed the bloodstains inside the room. Later, king gave jose, his
legitimate brother, one piece of jewelry belonging to Laura. Jose knew that the
jewelry was taken from Laura but nonetheless sold it for P20,000. Discuss the
criminal liabilities of Jose and Doming.
14. Tata owns a three-storey building. She wanted to construct a new building but had
no money to finance the construction. So, she insured the building for 3 million
pesos. She then urged yoboy and yongsi, for monetary consideration, to burn her
building so she could collect the insurance proceeds. Yoboy and Yongsi burned the
said building resulting to its total loss. What is their respective criminal liability?
15. Distinguish briefly but comprehensively between compound crime and complex
crime.
16. Itos was convicted of an offense penalized by a special law. The penalty prescribed is
not less that six years but not more than twelve years. No modifying circumstance
attended the commission of the crime. If you were the judge, will you apply the
indeterminate sentence law?
17. How are the maximum and the minimum terms of the indeterminate sentence for
offenses punishable under the Revised Penal Code determined?
18. When will the indeterminate sentence law be inapplicable?
19. Discuss the three-fold rule.
20. Discuss the nature and rules in the application of good conduct time allowance.
21. Petitioner Adelaida Tanega failed to appear on the day of the execution of her
sentence. On the same day, respondent judge issued a warrant for her arrest. She
 was never arrested. More than a year later, petitioner through counsel moved to
quash the warrant of arrest, on the ground that the penalty had prescribed.
Petitioner claimed that she was convicted for a light offense and since light offenses
prescribe in one year, her penalty had already prescribed. Is she correct?
22. A, while serving sentence for homicide escaped but was re-arrested, and was
sentenced for evasion of service of sentence. Later on, he was granted absolute
pardon for homicide. He now claims that the pardon includes the evasion of service
since the latter crime occurred because of Homicide. Is A’s contention correct?
23. One fateful night in January 1990, while 5-year old Albert was urinating at the back
of their house, he heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen of their neighbor
and playmate, Ara. When he peeped inside, he saw Mina, Ara’s stepmother, very
angry and strangling the 5-year old Ara to death. Albert saw Mina carry the dead
body of Ara, place it inside the trunk of the car and drive away. The dead body of Ara
was never found. Mina spread the news in the neighborhood that Ara went to live
with her grandparents in Ormoc City. For fear of his life, Albert did not tell anyone,
even his parents and relatives, about what he witnessed. Twenty and a half (20 & ½)
years after the incident, and right after his graduation in Criminology, Albert reported
the crime to NBI authorities. The crime of homicide prescribes in 20 years. Can the
State still prosecute Mina for the death of Ara despite the lapse of 20 and 1/2 years?
24. Enumerate the prescriptive period for crimes punishable by special penal laws.
25. Distinguish between amnesty and pardon.