CRIMINAL LAW

Peanut Butter Defense

- aka spreading the blame
- a person accused of a crime spreads the liability to others, in effect implicitly admitting criminal
liability
- e.g. Jinggoy in his privilege speech during the Napoles scam asked why was he the only one being
persecuted when many are involved in Napoles’ scheme?
- relate to negative pregnant

Negative Pregnant
- negative pregnant is a form of negative expression which carries with it an affirmation or at least
an implication of some kind favorable to the adverse party. It is a denial pregnant with an
admission of the substantial facts alleged in the pleading.

Pardon vs. Amnesty

Pardon Amnesty
Type of offense Private crimes Political crimes
Grantee Individual Classes/groups
Concurrence of Congress Not necessary, purely Necessary
executive
Acceptance Required to be accepted by Acceptance not necessary
grantee
Judicial Notice None because it is a private Mandatory judicial notice
act of the President, purely being a public act by the
discretionary on his part executive with concurrence of
the legislative
Effect Relieves the offender of the Abolishes the offense, thus no
consequences of the offense, crime was ever committed
but recognizes that a crime
had been committed
Recidivism/Habituality Considered in cases of Cannot be counted for
recidivism or habituality purposes of recidivism or
habituality
Prior conviction Prior conviction is necessary Prior conviction is immaterial
before pardon may be given because crime is abolished

Mistaken Identity
- error in personae
- does not extinguish criminal liability
- mitigating under Art. 49, provided that the crime be different from which the accused intended
(e.g. A, with intent to kill, shot a person he thought was B, his archenemy. It turned out that he
shot C his father. The crime committed is parricide although the crime intended to be committed
was only homicide. Thus, the penalty shall be for homicide—reclusion temporal—but in the
maximum)

Treachery
- aka alevosia
- present when perpetrator ensures that the victim is defenseless when the crime is committed
- to constitute treachery, two conditions must concur:
(1) the employment of means of execution which tend directly and specially to insure the
accomplishment of the crime without risk to the assailant arising from the defense the victim
might make; and
(2) a deliberate or conscious adoption of the means of execution.
- the essence of treachery is that the attack is deliberate and without warning, done in a swift and
unexpected manner, affording the hapless, unarmed and unsuspecting victim no chance to resist
or escape.
- absorbs nighttime, abuse of superior strength, by a band, craft, age, sex

Art. 247
- keywords: in flagrante delicto
- Absolutory cause (accdg. to reyes and j. dela cruz), not absolutory (accdg. to gregorio, and pj
sandoval)
- Harmonized: We, therefore, conclude that Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code does not define
and provide for a specific crime, but grants a privilege or benefit to the accused for the killing of
another or the infliction of serious physical injuries under the circumstances therein mentioned.
Consequently, a complaint or information charging homicide under the exceptional circumstances
provided in Article 247 must fall under the jurisdiction of the Courts of First Instance, the offense
charged being actually that of homicide. The fact that the exceptional circumstances are also
pleaded — as was done in the amended complaint filed with the Justice of the Peace Court of
Narvacan — would not affect the nature of the crime charged. For they are not integral elements
of the crime charged but are matters which the accused has to prove in order to warrant the
application of the benefit granted by the law. As unnecessary and immaterial averments to the
crime charged, they may be stricken out as surplusage and still leave the offense fully described.
(People v. Araquel)

Battered Woman
- defined as a woman “who is repeatedly subjected to any forceful physical or psychological
behavior by a man in order to coerce her to do something he wants her to do without concern for
her rights.
- must have undergone at least two cycles of violence to be considered a battered woman
- Cycles: 1. Tension-building phase, 2. Acute battering incident, 3. Tranquil, loving phase
- considered a justifying circumstance under VAWC, parallel to self-defense accdg to P. vs. Genosa

Direct Bribery vs. Indirect Bribery

Direct Bribery Indirect Bribery
1. That the offender be a public officer 1. That the offender is a public officer.
within the scope of Art 203 2. That he accepts gifts.
2. That the offender accepts an offer or 3. That the said gifts are offered to him by
promise or receives a gift or present by reason of his office.
himself or through another
3. That such offer or promise be accepted
or gift/present received by the public
officer (mere agreement consummates
the crime)
1. with a view to committing some
crime (delivery of consideration is
not necessary) or
2. in consideration of an execution
if an act which does not
constitute a crime, but the act
must be unjust (delivery of
consideration is necessary), or
3. to refrain from doing something
which is his official duty to do
4. That the act which the offender
agrees to perform or which he
executes be connected with the
performance of his official duties
 For purposes of this article, temporary  The gift is given in anticipation of
performance of public functions is future favor from the public officer
sufficient to constitute a person a  There must be clear intention on the
public officer. A private person may part of the public officer to take the gift
commit this crime only in the case in offered and consider the property as
which custody of prisoners is entrusted his own for that moment. Mere
to him physical receipt unaccompanied by any
 Applicable also to assessors, arbitrators, other sign, circumstance or act to show
appraisal and claim commissioners, such acceptance is not sufficient to
experts or any other person performing convict the officer
public duties  There is no attempted or frustrated
 Cannot be frustrated, only attempted indirect bribery
or consummated.  The principal distinction between direct
 Bribery exists when the gift is: and indirect bribery is that in the
former, the officer agrees to perform or
  Actual receipt of the gift is not
necessary. An accepted offer or
promise of a gift is sufficient. However,
if the offer is not accepted, only the
person offering the gift is liable for
attempted corruption of a public officer
 The gift must have a value or capable of
pecuniary estimation. It could be in the
form of money, property or services
 If the act required of the public officer
amounts to a crime and he commits it,
he shall be liable for the penalty
corresponding to the crime
Malversation vs. Technical Malversation
Malversation
Elements:
(a) the offender is a public officer;
(b) by reason of his duties he is accountable
for public funds and property; and
(c) he appropriates, takes, or misappropriates,
or permits other persons to take such public
funds or property, or otherwise is guilty of
misappropriation or malversation of such
funds or property.
In malversation of public funds, the offender
misappropriates public funds for his own
personal use or allows any other person to
take such public funds for the latter's personal
use.
Death Penalty
- in suspended animation, pursuant to 1987 Consti RA 9346
Impossible Crime
- Requisites:
(1) that the act performed would be an offense against persons or property;
(2) that the act was done with evil intent; and
(3) that its accomplishment was inherently impossible, or the means employed was either
inadequate or ineffectual.
- Either:
refrain from doing an act in
consideration of the gift or promise. In
the latter case, it is not necessary that
the officer do any act. It is sufficient
that he accepts the gift offered by
reason of his office
 Public officers receiving gifts and
private persons giving gifts on any
occasion, including Christmas are liable
under PD 46.
 The criminal penalty or imprisonment is
distinct from the administrative penalty
of suspension from the service
Technical Malversation
Elements:
(a) the offender is an accountable public
officer;
(b) he applies public funds or property under
his administration to some public use; and
(c) the public use for which the public funds
or property were applied is different from the
purpose for which they were originally
appropriated by law ordinance.
In technical malversation, the public officer
applies public funds under his administration
not for his or another's personal use, but to a
public use other than that for which the fund
was appropriated by law or ordinance.
(1) legal impossibility- occurs where the intended acts, even if completed, would not amount to a
crime.
(2) physical impossibility- factual impossibility occurs when extraneous circumstances unknown to
the actor or beyond his control prevent the consummation of the intended crime.

Libel
- Under Article 353, libel is defined as a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or
defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status or circumstance tending to
discredit or cause the dishonor or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the
memory of one who is dead.
- Elements
(a) imputation of a discreditable act or condition to another;
(b) publication of the imputation;
(c) identity of the person defamed; and,
(d) existence of malice.
- An allegation is considered defamatory if it ascribes to a person the commission of a crime, the
possession of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status or
circumstances which tends to dishonor or discredit or put him in contempt, or which tends to
blacken the memory of one who is dead.
- There is publication if the material is communicated to a third person. It is not required that the
person defamed has read or heard about the libelous remark. What is material is that a third
person has read or heard the libelous statement, for “a man’s reputation is the estimate in which
others hold him in, not the good opinion which he has of himself.” [Alonzo v. Court of Appeals,
241 SCRA 51 (1995)]
- To satisfy the element of identifiability: it must be shown that at least a third person or a stranger
was able to identify him as the object of the defamatory statement.
- The law also presumes that malice is present in every defamatory imputation. Every defamatory
imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true, if no good intention and justifiable
motive for making it is shown
- Malice that attends the dissemination of the article alleged to be libelous must attend the
distribution itself. It cannot be merely a resentment against a person, manifested unconnectedly
several months earlier or one displayed at a much later date.
- Committed by means of writing, printing, lithography, engraving, radio, phonograph, painting,
theatrical exhibition, cinematographic exhibition, or any similar means.