Law 103 (Criminal Law I) - Section 2

LEGAL MEMORANDUM 1 (100 points)

Instructions: This is an assessment aimed at 1) testing your understanding of what you have
read, and 2) improving your skills in issue spotting and legal analysis. Please observe honesty
and good faith. Do not copy-paste the work of other people, or let them do the work for you, in
the hope of getting a good mark for this assessment. You will be fooling no one but yourselves
if you do so. Please use the attached format as a reference.

Alpha Kapal Muks and Palo-Palo Gang are two rival fraternities in Cotabato City. Natan, Floryn,
Diggie, Zilong and Leslie are members of Alpha Kapal Muks, while Clint, Eudora, Franco,
Badang and Alice are members of Palo-Palo Gang. Despite being members of different
fraternities, Leslie and Alice, both medical doctors, do not have ill-feeling toward each other. In
fact, they have become best friends since their days as medical students.

Natan is a professional teacher handling Physical Education subject at Cotabato City National
High School. Popol, one of his students, is Clint’s son with Beatrix, who happens to be Natan’s
high school girlfriend. One time, Popol relayed to Clint and Beatrix that during their class,
Natan, for unknown reason, threw at him a ballpen that almost hit his left eye. Popol also
recounted numerous instances where Natan was unjustifiably mad at him. He even recalled
one incident where he was asked to get out of the class for being late for only a minute. When
asked by Clint when all these happened, Popol said, “Noong isang beses po na pinuntahan ako
ni mommy sa school.” With composure, Clint told his son, “Ako na ang bahala, anak.”

During the 35th Anniversary Celebration of Palo-Palo Gang, Clint shared his son’s problem to
Eudora, Franco, Badang and Alice. Outraged of Natan’s unprofessionalism toward Popol,
Badang, who happens to be Popol’s uncle (being Beatrix elder brother), suggested to teach
Natan a lesson. Eudora and Franco readily agreed, while Clint and Alice just remained silent.

Unknown to Clint and his fraternal brothers and sisters, Natan also devised a plan to get back
at Clint. In one of his drinking sessions with Floryn, Diggie and Zilong, he shared his love story
with Beatrix, and how it was ruined by the betrayal of Clint, his high school best friend. He
recalled the moment during their high school prom where he caught Clint and Beatrix having
sex in the dark corner of the gymnasium. When Natan, Floryn, Diggie and Zilong were about to
go home, Natan brought up his plan to kill Clint the next day. He shared that there will be a
General Assembly in their school to be held at 6:00 in the evening, where parents are required
to attend. Floryn offered her revolver, while Diggie promised to be on Natan’s side when doing
the act. Zilong, on the other hand, just laughed at the idea.
Clint and Beatrix attended the General Assembly. During the event, Natan, asked Kupa, his
assistant, to follow Clint. Kupa’s act of following Clint proved fruitful to Natan when Kupa
overheard Clint talking to his work supervisor requesting Clint’s presence for an urgent matter.
At around 8:30 in the evening, Natan and Diggie were all set to execute the plan. They
positioned themselves in the dark portion of the parking area waiting for Clint. Few moments
later, they saw a man wearing a cap and a jacket like those worn by Clint. Without any
hesitation, Natan pulled the trigger, causing the man’s death. Before Natan and Diggie could
flee the scene, Zilong came with a sharp object, and used said object to stab the man. All these
were captured by the CCTV.

On their way out of the school premises, Natan, Diggie and Zilong bumped into Clint, who was
in a hurry. Realizing that the man they killed was not Clint, Natan shot Clint. But Clint was
quick enough to dodge the bullet. He managed to hide in one of the parked cars, which made
Natan furious. Natan then followed Clint. Unknown to Clint, Diggie and Zilong managed to
sneak in towards his direction. Minutes later, Clint found himself unable to move freely as he
was being held by Diggie and Zilong, which gave Natan the golden opportunity to execute his
plan. Still very mad, Natan, this time, with the use of a sharp object, stabbed Clint multiple
times.

Upon Kupa’s tip, police officers went to Cotabato City National High School. But before they
could reach the scene of the crimes, Natan, Diggie and Zilong were able to flee. The dead body
of the man who was killed by Natan, Diggie and Zilong, was brought to the hospital and was
subjected to a post-mortem examination. Clint was also brought to the hospital where he
received immediate medical intervention from his friend, Alice.

During the initial investigation of the police, Kupa confessed about what Natan made him do
before the gruesome incidents. It was also revealed that the dead body belonged to Franco,
Natan’s fraternal brother, who also attended the General Assembly for his daughter who is also
a student at Cotabato City National High School. Finally, it was found out that the revolver
used in the killing of Franco belonged to Floryn. With these and the CCTV footage which
captured everything that happened, two criminal cases (a case for murder for the death of
Franco and a case for frustrated murder for what happened to Clint) were filed against Natan,
Diggie, Zilong, Floryn and Kupa, all as principals in the commission of both crimes. In his
Resolution, the assigned prosecutor found the existence of conspiracy between and among the
accused, and the presence of several aggravating circumstances.

Subsequently, warrants for the arrest of Natan, Diggie, Zilong, Floryn and Kupa were issued by
the Executive Judge of the RTC of Cotabato City. When served with the warrants, Natan and
Diggie peacefully went with the police officers. Floryn and Kupa voluntarily surrendered to the
police before they could be served with the warrants. Zilong, on the other hand, was nowhere
to be found, but a tip reached the police that he is now living with his aunt. Based on the tip, a
motion to amend the Informations were filed by the counsel of Clint and Franco’s wife so as to
include Zilong’s aunt as an accessory to both crimes. The Informations were amended
accordingly.
Joint trial was held for both cases.

Suppose you are working as a legal researcher at RTC Br. X, prepare a very good legal
memorandum that might help the Honorable Richard N. Gomez, your judge, in deciding the
cases. Use the following questions as a guide.

1. What are the criminal liabilities of Natan, Diggie, Zilong, Floryn, Kupa, and Zilong’s
aunt, if any?
2. What are the aggravating and/or mitigating circumstances present in the problem,
and against whom and in whose favor must they be appreciated?

II

Suppose that the lawyers of Natan, Diggie, Floryn and Kupa were able to have their petitions
for bail granted in that while the case was pending, they enjoy temporary liberty.

One time, at around 10:00 in the evening, Natan, Diggie, and Floryn were drinking. Later, they
decided to go to a store to buy cigarettes. On their way to the store, Floryn noticed Badang
standing in a corner near the store and staring at them. Natan and his group mentioned about
what happened to Clint and Franco, then laughed. Then, Badang walked away and
disappeared. Later, Badang reappeared, accompanied by Eudora, and followed Natan and his
group to the store. When Badang and Eudora were already in front of Natan, Eudora uttered,
"Ano nga ba an nakakatawa?" and proceeded to stab Natan twice with a knife. As Diggie and
Floryn tried to intervene, Badang shot Natan twice. As Badang and Eudora were fleeing, Natan
and his group followed them. Diggie, now with his revolver, shot at Badang but failed to hit
him. Badang, shot back at Diggie repeatedly, but hit Floryn instead, causing Floryn to fall on
the ground.

Upon Diggie’s call, police officers arrived. Natan and Floryn were brought to the hospital.
Natan and Floryn were confined at the Intensive Care Unit under the supervision of Leslie, their
fraternal sister. Angry at Natan and wanting to kill him, Alice went to the ICU and disguised
herself as Leslie. There, she saw a person lying on the hospital bed with several life-saving
tubes attached to the body. Alice disconnected the tubes and left. Later, Leslie entered the ICU,
and seeing the disconnected tubes, replaced them. The patient, who turned out to be Floryn,
survived.

After the investigation by the police, Clint, Badang, Eudora and Alice were all charged with two
counts of frustrated murder for what happened to Natan and Floryn. In his Resolution, the
assigned prosecutor found that there was a conspiracy between and among Clint, Badang,
Eudora and Alice.

Three days after, Natan was found dead, with a knife in his right hand. Medical examination
revealed that the cause of Natan’s death was the injury in his throat. Investigation by the police
showed that the day Natan died, no one other than Mia, Alice’s assistant, entered the room
where Natan was staying. From this, the police concluded that it was Mia who cut his throat.
Because of this, the Information for frustrated murder (which involved Natan) was amended.
Accordingly, the charge was upgraded to murder, and Mia was added in the charge as an
accomplice.

Joint trial was held for both cases.

Suppose you are working as a legal researcher at RTC Br. Z, prepare a very good legal
memorandum that might help the Honorable Lucy T. Gomez, your judge, in deciding the cases.
Use the following questions as a guide.

1. What are the criminal liabilities of Clint, Badang, Eudora, Alice and Mia?
2. Are the charges against them proper?

-Atty. SMB