crim 1 reviewer art 48 memorize
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crim law art 48TRANSCRIPT
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Art. 48. Penalty for complex crimes. When a single act constitutes two or more grave
or less grave felonies, or when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other,
the penalty for the most serious crime shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its
maximum period.
The 2 or more grave or less grave felonies must be the result of a single act, or an offense
must be a necessary means to commit the crime.
Complex crime one crime only as there is only one criminal intent only one
information need be filed.
2 kinds of complex crimes:
a) compound crime single act constitutes 2 or more grave or less grave felonies
Requisites:
1) that only one single act is committed by the offender
2) that the single act produces
a) 2 or more grave felonies
b) one or more grave and one or more less grave felonies
c) 2 or more less grave felonies
b) complex crime proper when an offense is a necessary means for committing another
Requisites:
1) that at least 2 offenses are committed
2) that one or some of the offenses must be necessary to commit the other
3) that both or all the offenses must be punished under the same statute
No single act in the following cases:
a) When 2 persons are killed one after the other, by different acts, although these 2 killings
were the result of a single criminal impulse, the different acts must be considered as distinct
crimes.
b) When the acts are wholly different, not only in themselves, but also because they are
directed against 2 different persons, as when one fires his gun twice in succession, killing one
and injuring the other.
Light felonies produced by the same act should be treated and punished as separate
offenses or may be absorbed by the grave felony.
Examples:
a) several light felonies resulting from one single act not complex
Juan hit Pedros car, resulting in several light injuries and light felony of damage to property. No
complex crime because the crime of slight physical injuries and damage to property are light
felonies. There are as many crimes as there are persons injured w/ light physical injuries and as
many penalties as there are light felonies committed, even though they are produced by a single
act of the offender.
b) when the crime is committed by force or violence, slight physical injuries are absorbed.
Examples of complex crimes:
a) Juan was a barangay captain who was killed while discharging his duty, the crime is a
complex crime of homicide w/ assault upon a person of authority.
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b) Juan raped Petra, causing her physical injuries w/c required a months worth of medical
attention. This is a complex crime of rape w/ less serious physical injuries. The injuries were
necessary to the commission of the rape.
when in obedience to an order, several accused simultaneously shot many persons,
without evidence how many each killed, there is only a single offense, there being a single
criminal impulse.
when various acts are executed for the attainment of a single purpose w/c constitutes an
offense, such acts must be considered only as one offense.
Example: Juan falsified 100 warehouse receipts from April to June which enabled him to
swindle the bank of 100 million. Theres only one complex crime of estafa through multiple
falsification of documents.
There is no complex crime of arson w/ homicide
Art 48 is applicable to crimes through negligence
Example: Juan lit a cigarette as he poured gas in the tank of his car in his garage. The gas caught
fire and the house burned. His sister died and the maid suffered serious physical injuries. The
crimes of arson, homicide, serious physical injuries and damage to property constitute a
complex crime. There is only one penalty but there are 3 civil liabilities.
No complex crime when one of the offenses is penalized by a special law
Example of complex crime proper (at least 2 crimes must be committed):
Kidnapping the victim to murder him in a secluded place ransom wasnt paid so victim was
killed. Kidnapping was a necessary means to commit murder. But where the victim was taken
from his home for the sole purpose of killing him and not for detaining him illegally or for the
purpose of ransom, the crime is simple murder.
Necessary means does not mean indispensable means. Indispensable would mean it is
an element of the crime. The crime can be committed by another mean. The means
actually employed (another crime) was merely to facilitate and insure the consummation
of the crime.
When in the definition of a felony, one offense is a means to commit the other, there is no
complex crime.
Ex. Murder committed by means of fire. Murder can be qualified by the circumstance of fire so
no complex crime even if Art 321 and 324 punishes arson. Its plain and simple murder.
Not complex crime when trespass to dwelling is a direct means to commit a grave
offense. Like rape, there is no complex crime of trespass to dwelling with rape. Trespass
will be considered as aggravating (unlawful entry or breaking part of a dwelling)
No complex crime when one offense is committed to conceal another
Example: Juan set the school on fire after committing homicide. 2 crimes.
When the offender had in his possession the funds w/c he misappropriated, the
falsification of a public or official document involving said funds is a separate offense. But
when the offender had to falsify a public or official document to obtain possession of the
funds w/c he misappropriated, the falsification is a necessary means to commit the
malversation.
There is no complex crime of rebellion with murder, arson, robbery or other common
crimes. They are mere ingredients of the crime of rebellion absorbed already.
When 2 crimes produced by a single act are respectively within the exclusive jurisdiction
of 2 courts of different jurisdiction, the court of higher jurisdiction shall try the complex
crime.
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Example: Although the forcible abduction which was supposedly commenced in Manila was not
proven, and although the rape which was proven was actually committed in Cavite, still the RTC
of Manila had jurisdiction to convict the accused of rape. The complex crime of forcible
abduction with rape was charged in the complaint on the basis of which the case was tried.
Art. 48 is intended to favor the culprit.
The penalty for complex crime is the penalty for the most serious crime, the same to be
applied in its maximum period. If the different crimes resulting from one single act are
punished with the same penalty, the penalty for any one of them shall be imposed, the
same to be applied in the maximum period. The same rule shall be observed when an
offense is a necessary means to commit the other.
A complex crime of the second form may be committed by two persons.
But when one of the offenses, as a means to commit the other, was committed by one of
the accused by reckless imprudence, the accused who committed the crime by reckless
imprudence is liable for his acts only.
Example: Juan cooperated in the commission of the complex offense of estafa through
falsification by reckless imprudence by acts without which it could not have been accomplished,
and this being a fact, there would be no reason to exculpate him from liability. Even assuming
he had no intention to defraud Tomas if his co-defendants succeeded in attaining the purpose
sought by the culprits, Juans participation together w/ the participation of his co-defendants in
the commission of the offense completed all the elements necessary for the perpetration of the
complex crime of estafa through falsification of documents.
When two felonies constituting a complex crime are punishable by imprisonment and
fine, respectively, only the penalty of imprisonment shall be imposed.
When a single act constitutes two grave or less grave or one grave and another less grave,
and the penalty for one is imprisonment while that for the other is fine, the severity of the
penalty for the more serious crime should not be judged by the classification of each of
the penalties involved, but by the nature of the penalties.
Example: Even if the fine for damage to property through reckless imprudence is P40,000, an
afflictive penalty, and the penalty for the physical injuries resulting from the same act is only 4
mos of arresto mayor, a correccional penalty may be imposed.
In the order of severity of the penalties, arresto mayor and arresto menor are considered
more severe than destierro and arresto menor is higher in degree than destierro.
Fine is not included in the list of penalties in the order of severity and it is the last in the
order.
Art 48 applies only to cases where the Code doesnt provide a specific penalty for a
complex crime.
Art 48 doesnt apply when the law provides one single penalty for single complex crimes
like the ff:
a) robbery w/ homicide
b) robbery w/ rape
c) kidnapping w/ serious physical injuries
d) rape w/ homicide
When a complex crime is charged and one offense is not proven, the accused can be
convicted of the other.
Plurality of crimes consists in the successive execution by the same individual of
different criminal acts upon any of w/c no conviction has yet been declared.
Kinds of plurality of crimes:
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a) formal or ideal only one criminal liability
b) real or material there are different crimes in law as well as in the conscience of the
offender, in such cases, the offender shall be punished for each and every offense that he
committed.
Example: Juan stabbed Pedro, then Juan stabbed Tomas too. There are 2 committed as 2 acts
were performed.
PLURALITY OF CRIMES RECIDIVISM No conviction of the crimes committed There must be conviction by final judgment of
the first prior offense
Formal/ideal plural crimes are divided into 3 groups: (a person committing multiple
crimes is punished w/ one penalty in the ff cases)
a) when the offender commits any of the complex crimes defined in art 48
b) when the law specifically fixes a single penalty for 2 or more offenses committed: robbery
w/ homicide, kidnapping w/ serious physical injuires
c) when the offender commits continued crimes
Continued crimes refers to a single crime consisting of a series of acts but all arising
from one criminal resolution. Although there is a series of acts, there is only one crime
committed, so only one penalty shall be imposed.
Examples of continued crimes:
a) a collector of a commercial firm misappropriates for his personal use several amounts
collected by him from different persons. There is only one crime because the different and
successive appropriations are but the different moments during which one criminal resolution
arises.
b) Juan stole 2 books belonging to 2 different persons. He commits only one crime because
there is unity of thought in the criminal purpose of the offender.
A continued crime is not a complex crime as offender does not perform a single act but a
series of acts. Therefore:
a) penalty not to be imposed in the maximum
b) no actual provision punishing a continued crime its a principle applied in connection w/
2 or more crimes committed w/ a single intention.
Continued crime is different from a transitory crime. Transitory crime is moving crime.
Example: kidnapping someone for ransom and moving him to another venue. The offenders can
be prosecuted and tried in either of the 2 areas.
REAL/MATERAIAL PLURALITY CONTINUED CRIME There is a series of acts performed by the offender
Same
Each act performed constitutes a separate crime because each act is generated by a criminal impulse
Different acts constitute only one crime because all of the acts performed arise from one criminal resolution.