People v. Unarce
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: The accused-appellant was convicted of murder, a crime committed on November 16, 1992. Procedural History: The Supreme Court, in a previous decision dated April 4, 1997, applied Republic Act No. 7659 in imposing the penalty. However, the Court motu proprio recognized a potential error in this application. The Petition: The case involves a resolution by the Supreme Court to correct its own decision regarding the imposable penalty.
Issue(s)
Whether Republic Act No. 7659, which took effect on December 31, 1993, should apply to a crime of murder committed on November 16, 1992. What is the proper imposable penalty for the crime of murder committed on November 16, 1992, considering the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender.
Ruling
The decision appealed from is hereby MODIFIED. Accused-appellant is sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of ten (10) years and one (1) day of prision mayor, as minimum, to seventeen (17) years, four (4) months, and one (1) day of reclusion temporal, as maximum.
Ratio Decidendi
On whether Republic Act No. 7659 should apply to a crime committed prior to its effectivity: The Court held that Republic Act No. 7659, which re-imposed the death penalty, took effect on December 31, 1993. Since the crime of murder in this case was committed on November 16, 1992, the said statute cannot be applied retroactively. The applicable legal provision is Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code, as it existed before its amendment by Republic Act No. 7659. This provision prescribed the penalty of reclusion temporal in its maximum period to death for the crime of murder. On the proper imposable penalty considering voluntary surrender: The Court considered the presence of the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender. In accordance with Article 64(2) of the Revised Penal Code, when a mitigating circumstance is present, the penalty shall be imposed in its minimum period. Therefore, the proper penalty is reclusion temporal in its maximum period, which is the minimum of the prescribed penalty of reclusion temporal maximum to death. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the imposable penalty is an indeterminate sentence within the range of prision mayor in its maximum period, as the minimum, to reclusion temporal in its maximum period, as the maximum. This ensures that the penalty imposed is just and considers the offender's surrender.
Main Doctrine
The application of Republic Act No. 7659 (re-imposing the death penalty) is prospective and does not apply to crimes committed before its effectivity. For crimes committed prior to December 31, 1993, the penalty for murder is governed by Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, with consideration for mitigating circumstances like voluntary surrender.