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- Section 6 of Rule 122 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure
- 🡪 an appeal must be taken within 15 days from
promulgation or notice of the judgment or order
appealed from.
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"The Present Crime And The Previous Crime Must Be
“Embraced In The Same Title Of This Code.”
- When one offense is punishable by an ordinance or special law
and the other by the Revised Penal Code, the two offenses are
not embraced in the same title of the Code.
- EXCEPTION: Article 10 – (me: WHEN?) Revised Penal
Code as supplementing special laws of a penal
character.
- But recidivism was considered aggravating in
a usury case where the accused was
previously convicted of the same offense.
- EXAMPLE OF CRIMES “EMBRACED IN THE SAME TITLE”
- Robbery and theft are embraced in TITLE TEN, referring
to crime against property
- Homicide and physical injuries are embraced in TITLE
EIGHT, referring to crimes against persons.
- Felonies defined and penalized in Book II of the RPC
are grouped in different titles.
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OTHER RULES
- Recidivism must be taken into account as an aggravating
circumstance no matter how many years have intervened
between the first and second felonies.
- “There is recidivism even if the lapse of time between
two felonies is more than 10 years”
- “Pardon/absolute pardon Does Not Obliterate The Fact That
The Accused Was A Recidivist;
- Pardon does not prevent a former conviction form
being considered as an aggravating circumstance.
(PEOPLE V. LACAO)
- But Amnesty Extinguished The Penalty And Its Effects”
- US V SOTELO: amnesty extinguishes the penalty and all
its effects. There is no such provision with respect to
pardon.
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Article 14. Aggravating circumstances. - The following are
aggravating circumstances:
10. That the offender has been previously punished by an offense
to which the law attaches an equal or greater penalty or for two
or more crimes to which it attaches a lighter penalty.
REASON
• Same as that of recidivism, i.e, the greater perversity of the
offender
- as shown by his inclination to crimes. —
Elements:
1. Accused is on trial for an offense.
2. He previously served sentence for another
offense to which the law attaches an equal or
greater penalty, or for two or more crimes to
which it attaches lighter penalty than that for
the new offense.
3. He is convicted of the new offense.
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Reiteracion or Habituality
- DEFINITION
- In reiteracion or habituality, i
- It is essential that the offender be previously punished,
that is,
- he has served sentence, for an offense in
which the law attached, or provides
- for an equal or greater penalty than that
attached by law to the second offense,
- EQUAL: A served sentence for forcible
abduction punishable by reclusion
temporal then committed homicide
after being released, which is also
punishable by reclusion temporal.
- GREATER: A served sentence for
homicide punishable by reclusion
temporal then committed
falsification after punishable by a
penalty ranging from 6 years and 1
day to 12 years. (Suppose its
falsification first then homicide after?
No habituality, because the penalty
for the first offense is less than that
for the second offense. The penalty
for the first offense must at least be
equal to that for the second
offense.)
- or for two or more offenses, in which the law
attaches a lighter penalty.
- RULE: Even if the accused served the penalty of prision
mayor in its minimum period and is not convicted of an
offense for which the penalty of prision mayor
maximum is imposed, there is still habituality.
- RULE: If penalty is death and the offenses for which the
offender has been previously convicted are against
property and not directly against persons, courts should
exercise its discretion in favor of the accused by not
taking this circumstance into account.
- “Has been previously punished”
- Means that the accused previously served sentence
for another offense or sentences for other offenses
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