CRIMINAL LAW I: Hand-out #5

Alternative Circumstances
- The alternative circumstances are:

1. Relationship;
2. Intoxication; and
3. Degree of instruction and education of the offender

What are the relationships covered under the alternative circumstances?

- The relationship covered are:

1. Spouses;
2. Ascendant;
3. Descendant;
4. Legitimate, natural or adopted brother or sister; or
5. Relative by affinity in the same degree of the offender

What is the effect of relationship in crimes against chastity?

- In crimes against chastity, such as acts of lasciviousness, relationship is
always aggravating.

When is intoxication mitigating circumstance or aggravating

circumstance?

Mitigating Circumstance Aggravating Circumstance

If the intoxication is not habitual If the intoxication is habitual
If intoxication is not subsequent to If it is intentional (subsequent to the
the plan to commit a felony plan to commit a felony)

When the offender drinks liquor fully

knowing its effects, to find in the
liquor a stimulant to commit a crime
or a means to suffocate any remorse.

What does instruction and education under alternative circumstance

mean?
- As an alternative circumstance, it does not refer only to literacy but more
to the level of intelligence of the accused. It refers to the lack of sufficient
intelligence and knowledge of the full significance of one’s act.

Absolutory Causes
- Absolutory causes are those where the act committed is a crime but for
reasons of public policy and sentiment, there is no penalty imposed.

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Examples of absolutory causes:

1. Spontaneous desistance;
2. Slight or less serious physical injuries inflicted under exceptional
circumstances;
3. Instigation;
4. Marriage of the offender and the offended party in cases of seduction,
abduction, acts of lasciviousness and rape;
5. In adultery and concubinage, if the offended party shall have consented
or pardoned the offenders.

What should the court do in case there is instigation?

- Instigation absolves the accused of any guilt. A sound public policy
requires that the courts shall condemn this practice by directing the
acquittal of the accused.

Distinction between instigation and entrapment

Instigation Entrapment
As to Source The law enforcer The means originate
conceives the from the mind of the
commission of the crime criminal. The idea and
and suggests to the the resolve to commit
accused who adopts the the crime come from
idea and carries it into him.
execution.
As to Effect on Instigation absolves the Entrapment does not
Criminal Liability accused bar prosecution and
conviction

PERSONS LIABLE AND DEGREE OF PARTICIPATION

Who may be held criminally liable for grave and less grave felonies?
- For grave and less grave felonies, persons acting as principal,
accomplice, and accessory are criminally liable.

Who may be held criminally liable for light felonies?

- For light felonies, only principals and accomplices are criminally liable.

Who are considered principals?

- The following are considered principals:

1. Principal by direct participation;

2. Principal by inducement;
3. Principal by indispensable cooperation
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Who is a principal by direct participation?
- A principal by direct participation is one who takes a direct part in the
execution of the act or omission constituting the crime.

When are two or more persons taking part in the commission of a crime
considered principals by direct participation?
- Two or more persons taking part in the commission of a crime are
considered principals by direct participation if the following requisites
are present:

1. They participated in the criminal resolution; and

2. They carried out their plan and personally took part in its execution by
acts which directly tended to the same end.

Who is a principal by inducement?

- A principal by inducement is one who directly forces or induces others to
commit a crime.

What are the requisites in order that a person may be convicted as a

principal by inducement?
- The following requisites must be established:

1. That the inducement be made directly with the intention of procuring the
commission of the crime; and
2. That such inducement be the determining cause of the commission of
the crime by the material executor.

When is there inducement?

- Inducement exists if the command or advice is of such a nature that,
without its concurrence, the crime would not have materialized.

Who is a principal by indispensable cooperation?

- A principal by indispensable cooperation is one who cooperates in the
commission of the offense by another act without which it would not
have been accomplished. To be a principal by indispensable cooperation,
one must:

1. Participate in the criminal resolution, a conspiracy or unity in criminal

purpose; and
2. Cooperate in the commission of the offense by performing another act,
without which it would not have been accomplished.

Who is an accomplice?
- An accomplice is a person who, not being a principal, cooperates in the
execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts.
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When can a person be considered an accomplice?
- In order that a person may be considered an accomplice, the following
requisites must concur:

1. That there be community of design; that is, knowing the criminal design
of the principal by direct participation, he concurs with the latter in his
purpose;
2. That he cooperates in the execution by previous or simultaneous acts,
with the intention of supplying material or moral aid in the execution of
the crime in an efficacious way; and
3. That there be a relation between the acts done by the principal and those
attributed to the person charged as accomplice.

Distinction between accomplice and conspirator

Accomplice Conspirator
As to the Knowledge of Knows and agrees with the criminal design
the Criminal Design
As to Knowledge of the Comes to know the Knows the criminal
Criminal Intention criminal intention only intention because they
after the principals have themselves have decided
reached the decision, upon such course of
and only then do they action
agree to cooperate in its
execution
As to the Decision to Does not decide to Decides that a crime
Commit the Crime commit a crime but should be committed
merely assents to the
plan and cooperate in
its accomplishment
As to Role in the Mere instruments who Authors of the crime
Commission of the perform acts not
Crime essential to the
perpetration of the
offense

Who is an accessory?
- An accessory is one who, having knowledge of the commission of the
crime, and without having participated therein, wither as principal or
accomplice, take part subsequent to its commission in any of the
following manners:

1. By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of

the crime;
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 2. By concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or
instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery; or
3. By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principal of
the crime, provided the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions
or whenever the author of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide,
murder, or an attempt to take the life of the Chief Executive, or is known
to be habitually guilty of some other crime.

What is the effect of the acquittal of the principal upon the liability of the
accessory?
- The acquittal of the principal must likewise result in the acquittal of the
accessory where it was shown that no crime was committed. However,
notwithstanding the acquittal of the principal, the accessory may
nevertheless be convicted if the crime was in fact established.

When is an accessory exempt from criminal liability?

- An accessory, by preventing the discovery of a crime or by assisting the
principal to escape, is exempt from criminal responsibility of the
principal is his:

1. Spouse;
2. Ascendant;
3. Descendant;
4. Legitimate, natural, or adopted brother or sister; or
5. Relative by affinity within the same degree.

CONSPIRACY AND PROPOSAL

Distinction between Conspiracy as a felony and Conspiracy as a manner of

incurring criminal liability
- Conspiracy as a felony refers to those acts directly punishable by a law –
such as conspiracy to commit rebellion. But when the conspiracy relates
to a crime actually committed, it becomes only a manner of incurring
criminal liability and is not punishable as a separate offense – such as
when rebellion is actually committed, the conspiracy is not a felony.

When is there conspiracy?

- A conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an agreement
concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it.
- To prove conspiracy, the prosecution must establish the following three
requisites:

1. Two or more persons came to an agreement;

2. The agreement concerned the commission of a crime; and
3. The execution of the felony was decided upon.
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When is conspiracy and proposal to commit felony punishable?
- Conspiracy and proposal to commit felony are punishable only in the
cases in which the law specially provides a penalty therefor.

When is mere conspiracy punishable?

Under the RPC:

1. Treason;
2. Coup d’etat, rebellion, or insurrection
3. Sedition

Under Special Penal Laws:

1. Espionage
2. Crimes involving trafficking of dangerous drugs
3. Arson
4. Child pornography
5. Money laundering

Two Structures of Multiple Conspiracies

1. Wheel conspiracy
2. Chain conspiracy

Wheel conspiracy
- A wheel conspiracy occurs when there is a single person or group (the
hub) dealing individual with two or more other persons or groups (the
spokes).

- The spoke typically interacts with the hub rather than with another
spoke.

- In the event that the spoke shares a common purpose to succeed, there
is a single conspiracy. However, in the instances when each spoke is
unconcerned with the success of the spokes, there are multiple
conspiracies.

Chain conspiracy
- A chain conspiracy exists when there is successive communication and
cooperation in much the same way as the legitimate business operations
between manufacturer and wholesaler, then wholesaler and retailer, and
then retailer and consumer.

Distinction between an Express conspiracy and an Implies conspiracy

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 - In terms of proving its existence, conspiracy takes two forms.

- The first is the express conspiracy, which requires proof of an actual

agreement among all the co-conspirators to commit the crime. However,
conspiracies are not always shown to have been expressly agreed upon.

- On the other hand, an implied conspiracy exists when two or more

persons are shown to have aimed by their acts towards the
accomplishment of the same unlawful object, each doing a part so that
their combined acts, though apparently independent, were in fact
connected and cooperative, indicating closeness of personal association
and a concurrence of sentiment. Implied conspiracy is proved through
the mode and manner of the commission of the offense, or from the acts
of the accused before, during and after the commission of the crime
indubitably pointing to a joint purpose, a concert of action and a
community of interest.

How is conspiracy proved and established?

- Conspiracy may be deduced from the acts of the accused before, during,
and after the commission of the crime charged, from which it may be
indicated that there is common purpose to commit the crime. Direct
proof is not essential to prove conspiracy.

What is the effect when conspiracy is proved?

- The conspirators shall incur collective criminal responsibility. Such
offender shall be liable for all of the acts committed by his co-
conspirators.
- “The act of one is the act of all”.

What is the rule as regards the criminal liability of a passive conspirator?

- For an accused to be validly held to conspire with his co-accused in
committing the crimes, his overt acts must tend to execute the offense
agreed upon, for the merely passive conspirator cannot be held to be still
part of the conspiracy without such overt acts, unless such passive
conspirator is the mastermind. In that respect, it is not always required
to establish that two or more persons met and explicitly entered into the
agreement to commit the crime by laying down the details of how their
unlawful scheme or objective would be carried out.

What is the effect of the acquittal of a conspirator upon the liability of a

co-conspirator?
- In an indictment based on conspiracy, the acquittal of a conspirator does
not absolve a co-conspirator from criminal liability. Indeed, the rule is
well-settled that once a conspiracy is established, the act of one is the
act of all, and each of the conspirators is liable for the crimes committed
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 by the other conspirators. It follows then that if the prosecution fails to
prove conspiracy, the alleged conspirators should be held individually
responsible for their own respective acts. The criminal liability of the
accused must be adjudged on the basis of his own acts as established by
the quantum of proof required in criminal cases.

When is there proposal to commit felony?

- There is proposal when the person who has decided to commit a felony
proposes its execution to some other person or persons.

What are the instances when mere proposal is punishable under the RPC?

1. Treason
2. Coup d’etat, rebellion, or insurrection

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