People v. Jaugan
REITERATIONFacts
1. The Antecedents: The underlying dispute concerns a criminal case where Demetrio Jaugan was found guilty of homicide by the Court of Appeals, with two aggravating circumstances and one mitigating circumstance, leading to a specific sentence. 2. Procedural History: Jaugan received notice of the Court of Appeals' decision on June 20, 1968. He filed a motion for reconsideration and/or new trial on July 23, 1968, within an extended period. This motion was denied by the Court of Appeals on August 6, 1968, with notice received on August 22, 1968. Subsequently, he filed a motion for permission to file a second motion for reconsideration and/or new trial on August 23, 1968, which was denied on September 3, 1968. Jaugan then filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court on October 29, 1968. 3. The Petition: The petitioner filed a petition for certiorari seeking review of the Court of Appeals' decision. The Supreme Court initially denied this petition on November 5, 1968, for being late. A motion for reconsideration of this denial was also denied on December 2, 1968. The current filing is a motion for leave to file a second motion for reconsideration, which the Court construes as a motion for reconsideration of the prior denials, and is itself denied as untimely filed under Rule 52, Section 1 of the Rules of Court.
Issue(s)
Whether the motion for leave to file a second motion for reconsideration was filed within the reglementary period. Whether the original petition for certiorari was filed within the reglementary period.
Ruling
The motion for leave to file a second motion for reconsideration is denied. The original petition for certiorari was filed out of time.
Ratio Decidendi
On the motion for leave to file a second motion for reconsideration: The Court found that the motion for leave to file a second motion for reconsideration, filed on December 17, 1968, was out of time under Section 1, Rule 52 of the Rules of Court. The petitioner had received notice of the denial of his first motion for reconsideration on December 6, 1968, and the period for filing such a motion had already expired. On the original petition for certiorari: The Court meticulously detailed the timeline of the petitioner's actions. The petitioner received notice of the Court of Appeals' decision on June 20, 1968. The fifteen-day period to file a petition for certiorari or a motion for rehearing would have expired on July 5, 1968. An extension granted by the Court of Appeals extended the period to August 4, 1968. The petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration and/or new trial on July 23, 1968, which was within this extended period. However, this motion was denied by the Court of Appeals on August 6, 1968, and notice was received by the petitioner on August 22, 1968. According to Section 1, Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, the petitioner then had fifteen days from August 23, 1968, to file his petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, meaning the period expired on September 6, 1968. The petitioner filed his petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court on October 29, 1968, which was long after the reglementary period had expired. The Court emphasized that neither the motion for leave to file a second motion for reconsideration nor subsequent motions for reconsideration suspended the running of the period for appeal by certiorari.
Main Doctrine
A motion for leave to file a second motion for reconsideration, filed out of time, will be denied. The period for filing a petition for certiorari is strictly enforced, and subsequent motions do not suspend the running of said period if filed after its expiration.