People v. Chiong Songco
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: The defendant and appellant threw the contents of a bottle of sulphuric acid into the face and body of the complaining witness, inflicting wounds that caused illness for more than thirty days. The attack was made at night, from behind the shelter of a sheet of zinc, and at a time when the victim was unprepared and had no reason to anticipate the assault. Procedural History: The trial court found the defendant guilty of the crime of lesiones defined in subsection 4 of article 416 read together with article 417 of the Penal Code, with the aggravating circumstance of nocturnity, sentencing him to imprisonment for 1 year and 1 day. The Petition: The defendant appealed the decision of the trial court.
Issue(s)
Whether the crime committed was properly classified and penalized under the Penal Code. Whether the aggravating circumstance of nocturnity should have been considered separately when it was integral to the treachery.
Ruling
The Supreme Court reversed the sentence imposed by the trial court. It held that the crime was attended by the qualifying circumstance of treachery, and thus the special penalty prescribed in the last paragraph of Article 416 of the Penal Code should have been applied. The Court sentenced the defendant and appellant to two years of prision correccional, together with the accessory penalties prescribed by law, and to pay the costs of both instances.
Ratio Decidendi
On the classification and penalty for the crime: The Court found that the evidence conclusively established that the defendant threw sulphuric acid into the face and body of the complaining witness, causing illness for more than thirty days. This act constituted the crime of lesiones. The Court further found that the attack was made treacherously (con alevosia), as defined in Article 10 of the Penal Code. This treachery was characterized by the attack being made at night, from behind the shelter of a sheet of zinc, and at a time when the victim was wholly unprepared and had no reason to anticipate such an assault. Consequently, the special penalty prescribed in the last paragraph of Article 416 of the Penal Code, which is prision correccional in its minimum and medium degree, should have been inflicted. The Court clarified that the crime was not related to the offenses defined in Article 417 of the code, which pertain to the use of poisons in a different manner. On the aggravating circumstance of nocturnity: The trial court considered nocturnity as an aggravating circumstance. However, the Supreme Court held that since the nocturnity was an integral part of the treacherous manner in which the assault was committed, it should not be considered as a separate aggravating circumstance. The Court stated that the aggravating circumstance of nocturnity was taken into consideration in the finding of the existence of the qualifying circumstance of alevosia. Therefore, the penalty should have been imposed in its medium degree, as there were no other aggravating or extenuating circumstances present.
Main Doctrine
The crime of inflicting physical injuries attended by treachery, as defined in Article 416 of the Penal Code, warrants the imposition of the special penalty prescribed in the last paragraph thereof, which is prision correccional in its minimum and medium degree. The aggravating circumstance of nocturnity, when it forms part of the treachery, should not be separately considered as an aggravating circumstance.