People v. Eduave
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: The accused, Protasio Eduave, attacked a girl with a bolo, inflicting a severe gash. The motive was that the girl had previously charged him criminally for rape and for causing her pregnancy. The accused was living with the girl's mother as her querido at the time of the incident. Procedural History: The case was brought before the Supreme Court on appeal from a lower court ruling. The Petition: The appellant contended that the crime committed was homicide, not murder, and that it was attempted homicide, not frustrated homicide.
Issue(s)
Whether the crime committed was homicide or murder. Whether the crime was attempted or frustrated homicide.
Ruling
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, finding the accused guilty of frustrated murder. The penalty was modified to thirteen years of cadena temporal.
Ratio Decidendi
On Whether the crime committed was homicide or murder: The Court held that if death had resulted, the crime would have been murder. This is because the crime was qualified by the circumstance of alevosia, evidenced by the accused making a sudden attack upon his victim from the rear, or partly from the rear, and dealing her a terrible blow in the back and side with his bolo. Such an attack necessitates the finding that it was made treacherously, which would qualify the crime as murder had death ensued. On Whether the crime was attempted or frustrated homicide: The Court ruled that the crime was frustrated homicide, not attempted homicide. Article 3 of the Penal Code defines a frustrated felony as one where the offender performs all the acts of execution which should produce the felony as a consequence, but which do not produce it by reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator. An attempted felony occurs when the offender commences the commission of the felony directly by overt acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution by reason of some cause or accident other than his own voluntarily desistance. The defendant performed all the acts of execution which should have resulted in consummated murder, and the failure to produce death was due to causes independent of his will, not his voluntary desistance. The subjective phase of the offense, where the offender has control over his actions, was completely passed, and the crime was not consummated due to factors beyond his control.
Main Doctrine
A felony is frustrated when the offender performs all the acts of execution which should produce the felony as a consequence, but which, nevertheless, do not produce it by reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator. An attempted felony occurs when the offender commences the commission of the felony directly by overt acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution which constitute the felony by reason of some cause or accident other than his own voluntarily desistance.