CRIMINAL LIABILITY

What are the Elements of criminal liability?

Criminal liability is incurred by any person:
1. Committing a felony although the wrongful act done be
different from that which he intended; and
2. Performing an act which would be an offense against
persons or property, were it not for the inherent
impossibility of its accomplishment or on account of the
employment of inadequate or ineffectual means.
What are the requisites for the application of the
Proximate Cause Doctrine?
1. That an intentional felony has been committed;
2. That the wrong done to the aggrieved party be the direct,
natural, and logical consequences of the felony
committed by the offender.
ACTIVITY NO. 3. In an act to discipline his child, the father
claims that the death of his child was not intended by his. Is
his contention correct?
What are causes which may produce a result different from
that which the offender intended?
1. Mistake in identity (error in personae)-The offender
intends the injury on one person but the harm fell on
another. In this situation, the intended victim was not at
the scene of the crime.

Example. A, wanting to kill B, killed C instead.

There are only two persons involved: A (the offender) and

C (unintended victim). B (the supposed to be victim) must
not be present.

What is the effect in this case?

Art. 49 of the RPC. It depens when the intended crime

and the crime actually committed are punished with
different penalties.

-If punished with SAME PENALTIES=NO EFFECT

- If punished with DIFFERENT PENALTIES:
GR: If punished with different penalties, the
lesser penalty shall be imposed in its maximum period.
 XPN: If the acts committed by the guilty
person shall also constitute an attempt or frustration of
another crime. If the attempted or frustrated crime has a
higher penalty, that penalty shall be imposed in its
maximum period.

2. Mistake in blow (aberratio ictus)- A person directed the

blow at an intended victim, but because of poor aim, that
blow landed on somebody else. In aberratio ictus, the
intended victim and the actual victim are both at the
scene of the crime.

Example: A was aiming to shoot B, but because of lack of

precision, hit C instead.

There are three persons involved, A (the offender), B (the

intended victim), and C (the unintended victim).

What is the effect of this?

There are two crimes committed:

A. Against the intended victim: attempted stage of the
felony;
B. Against the actual victim: the consummated or
frustrated felony, as the case may be.

It may give rise to a complex crime under Art. 48 since it

results from a single act.

3. Injurious consequences are greater than that intended

(praeter intentionem)- The injury is on the intended
victim but the resulting consequence is so grave a wrong
than what was intended. It is essential that there is a
notable disparity between the means employed or the act
of the offender and the felony which resulted.

Example: A, without intent to kill, struck the victim on

the back causing the victim to fall and hit his head on
the pavement.

What is the effect of this?

This is a mitigating circumstance particularly
covered by paragraph 3 of Art. 13.

ACTIVITY NO. 4. Differentiate Aberratio ictus from Error

in personae.
 ACTIVITY NO. 5. A and B went on a drinking spree.
While they were drinking, they had some arguments so A
stabbed B several times. A’s defense is that he had no
intention of killing his friend and that he did not intend
to commit so grave a wrong as that committed. Is praeter
intentionem properly invoked? Explain.

What is the Rule in Mistake of Fact?

The misapprehension of facts on the part of the person

who caused injury to another. He is not, however,
criminal liable because he did not act with criminal
intent.

Requisites of Mistake of Fact:

1. That the act done would have been lawful had
the facts been as the accused believed them to
be;
2. That the intention of the accused in performing
the act is lawful; and
3. That the mistake must be without fault or
carelessness on the part of the accused.
ACTIVITY NO. 6. A was afraid of bad elements. One evening,
before going to bed, he locked himself in his room and placed
a chair against the door. After going to bed, he was awakened
by someone who was trying to open the door. He called out
“Who is there?” twice but receive no answer. He then said, “If
you enter the room, I will kill you.” At that moment, he was
struck by the chair. Believing he was being attacked, he took a
kitchen knife and stabbed the intruder who turned to be his
roommate. Is he criminally liable? Explain.

What is Proximate Cause?

That cause, which, in natural and continuous sequence,
unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the
injury, and without which the result would not have occurred.
As a rule, the offender is criminally liable for all the
consequences of his felonious act, although not intended, if
the felonious act is the proximate cause of the felony.
Requisites of proximate cause:
1. The direct, natural, and logical cause;
2. Produces the injury or damage;
3. Unbroken by any efficient intervening cause; and
 4. Without which the result would not have occurred. D
Difference between immediate cause and proximate cause.
Immediate cause may be a cause which is far and
remote from the consequence which sets into motion other
causes that resulted in the felony.
Proximate cause does not require that the offender needs
to actually touch the body of the offended party. It is
enough that the offender generated in the mind of the
offended party the belief that made him risk himself.
If a man creates in another person's mind an immediate
sense of danger, which causes such person to try to escape,
and in doing so, the latter injures himself, the man who
creates such a state of mind is responsible for the resulting
injuries.
Instances when the felony committed is not the proximate
cause of he resulting injury
1. When there is an efficient intervening cause between the
felony committed and the resulting injury; or
2. When the resulting injury or damage is due to the
intentional act of the victim.
What is efficient intervening cause?
It is an intervening active force which is a distinct act or
fact absolutely foreign from the felonious act of the accused.

ACTIVITY NO. 7. A and B were regular customers at C’s store.

At around two o’clock in the morning of January 23, 2002,
while A was buying bread at C’s store, B suddenly appeared
and, without uttering a word, stabbed A on the left side of A’s
body using a sharpened bamboo stick. When B fled, C chased
B but failed to catch him.
When C returned to her store, she saw D removing the broken
bamboo stick from A’s body. C and D then brough A to Good
Samaritan Hospital and was treated as outpatient. A was later
brought to PGH on February 14, 2002, where he died the
following day of tetanus infection secondary to stab wound.
What is the proximate cause for the death of A? Explain.
ACTIVITY NO. 8. A and B had a quarrel and started hacking
each other. B was wounded at the back. SM Gapan City
Security Guard intervened and they were separated.
Somehow, their differences were patched up. A agreed to
shoulder all the expenses for the treatment of the wound of B
and to pay him his lost income. B, on the other hand, signed a
forgiveness letter in favor of A and on that condition, he
withdrew the complaint that he filed against A. After so many
weeks of treatment in a clinic, the doctor pronounced the
wound already healed. Thereafter, B went back to his farm.
Two months later, B came home chilling. Before midnight, he
died out of tetanus poisoning. The heirs of B filed a case of
homicide against A. Is A liable?

What are the Requisites of an Impossible Crime?

1. Act would be an offense against persons or property
2. Act was done with evil intent
3. Accomplishment is inherently impossible or means
employed is either inadequate or ineffectual; and
4. Act performed should not constitute a violation of
another provision of the RPC.
What are the kinds of inherent impossibility?
1. Legal impossibility – occurs where the intended acts,
even if completed would not amount to a crime.
Example: Killing a dead person.
2. Physical impossibility- occurs where extraneous
circumstances unknown to the accused prevented the
consummation of the intended crime.
Example: Pick pocketing an empty wallet
What does employment of ineffectual means?
The means employed cannot in any way produce the
intended crime.
Example: Poisoning a person with a sugar
ACTIVITY NO. 9. Four culprits, all armed with firearms and
with intent to kill, went to the intended victim’s house and
after having pinpointed the latter’s bedroom, all four fired at
and riddled said room with bullets, thinking that the intended
victim was already there as it was about 10:00 in the evening.
It so happened that the intended victim did not come home
that evening and so was not in her bedroom at that time. Was
it an impossible crime or attempted murder? Explain.
ACTIVITY NO. 10. A, collector of Honda failed to remit to the
company a check which was given to her as payment for a
ADV. She tried to deposit the check in her own account, but
she found out that the check bounced. What crime was
committed? Explain.
ACTIVITY NO. 11. A, always resented his classmate B. One
day, A planned to kill B by mixing poison in his lunch. Not
knowing where he can get poison, he approached another
classmate C to whom he disclosed his evil plan. Because he
himself harbored resentment towards B, C gave A the poison,
which A placed on B’s food. However, B did not die because
unknown to both A and C, the poison was actually powdered
milk. What crime or crimes, if any, did A and C commit?
Explain.