VOL.

2, APRIL 17, 1903 131

United States vs. Sweet

[No. 448. April 17, 1903.]

THE UNITED STATES, complainant and appellee,  vs.PHILIP K. SWEET, defendant and
appellant.

1. CRIMINAL LAW; CONVICTION OF LESSER OFFENSE.—Under a complaint charging the crime

of  lesiones menos graves,  a defendant may be convicted of misdemeanor for inflicting injuries not
requiring cessation of labor nor medical attendance.

2. ID.;  MISDEMEANORS;  PENALTIES.—In applying penalties for misdemeanors the court's

discretion is not governed by the rules of the Code relative to aggravating and extenuating
circumstances.

132

132 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

United States vs. Sweet

APPEAL from a judgment of the Court of First Instance of Manila.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
Theophile B. Steele, for appellant.
Solicitor-General Araneta, for appellee.

LADD, J.:

The defendant in July, 1901, was connected with the Police Department of the city of Manila,
under the ProvostMarshal-General, his position being that of Chief of the Secret Service Bureau.
One Marcelino San Pedro and certain other individuals had been arrested upon suspicion of being
concerned in an insurrectionary conspiracy in Pasig, and it was supposed that San Pedro had in
his possession or under his control arms, ammunition, money, and supplies which had been
collected for the purposes of the movement. An investigation was accordingly instituted at the
police station, and, in the course thereof, San Pedro having denied all knowledge as to the
conspiracy, the defendant, for the purpose of compelling him to disclose the whereabouts of the
arms, struck him several times with a whip, drawing blood, as we think the evidence shows, but
not injuring him so severely as to incapacitate him from working or to necessitate medical
attendance.
Nothing was shown by the defense which can constitute a justification or excuse for the
assault.
The complaint was for lesiones menos graves under article 418 of the Code. The character of
the injuries inflicted was not such as to bring the case within this article; it falls within article
588, No. 1, which punishes as a misdemeanor the infliction of injuries "which do not prevent the
person injured from devoting himself to his customary labors, and do not require medical
attendance."
The defendant was convicted under article 588, No. 1, of the Penal Code. This was in
accordance with General Orders, No. 58, section 29.
 In the application of penalties in cases of misdemeanor, the discretion of the court is not
controlled by the rules of the Code as-to aggravating and extenuating circumstances.
133

VOL. 2, APRIL 18, 1903 133

United States vs. De Villa

(Art. 605.) That discretion was, we think in the present case, properly exercised, the sentence
being fifteen days of arresto and reprensión, the maximum of the penalty fixed by the law for the
offense.
The judgment is affirmed with costs. Let the cause be returned to the court below for the
execution of the judgment.

Arellano, C. J., Torres, Cooper, Willard, and Mapa, JJ.,concur.

McDonough, J., did not sit in this case.

Judgment affirmed.

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