People v. Robles
G.R. No. 229943
March 18, 2019
FACTS:
CA
convicted Edgar Robles and Wilfredo Robles of the crime of Murder. before an
Entry of Judgment could be issued in this case, the Court received a Notice of
Death dated January 4, 2019 from accused-appellants' counsel informing the
Court of Edgar's death on December 15, 2018, as evidenced by the Certificate of
Death attached thereto.
ISSUE:
Whether
or not the death of Edgar extinguishes his criminal liability.
HELD:
Yes. Revised
Penal Code provides that criminal liability is totally extinguished by the
death of the accused, to wit: Article 89. How criminal
liability is totally extinguished. — Criminal liability is totally
extinguished: 1. By the death of the
convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability
therefore is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before
final judgment. In People v. Culas,
1.) Death of the accused pending
appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability, as well as the
civil liability, based solely thereon. As opined by Justice Regalado, in this
regard, "the death of the accused prior to final judgment terminates his
criminal liability and only the civil liability directly arising from and based
solely on the offense committed, i.e., civil liability ex delicto in senso strictiore." 2.) Corollarily, the claim
for civil liability survives notwithstanding the death of accused, if the same
may also be predicated on a source of obligation other than delict. Article
1157 of the Civil Code enumerates these other sources of obligation from which
the civil liability may arise as a result of the same act or omission: a) Law b) Contracts c)
Quasi-contracts d)Acts or omissions
punishable by law e) Quasi-delicts
3.) Where the civil liability
survives, as explained in Number 2 above, an action for recovery therefore may
be pursued but only by way of filing a separate civil action and subject to
Section 1, Rule 111 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure, as amended. This
separate civil action may be enforced either against the executor/administrator
or the estate of the accused, depending on the source of obligation upon which
the same is based as explained above. 4.)
Finally, the private offended party need not fear a forfeiture of his right to file
this separate civil action by prescription, in cases where during the prosecution
of the criminal action and prior to its extinction, the private offended party
instituted together therewith the civil action. In such case, the statute of
limitations on the civil liability is deemed interrupted during the pendency of
the criminal case, conformably with [the] provisions of Article 1155 of the
Civil Code, that should thereby avoid any apprehension on a possible privation
of right by prescription. Thus, upon Edgar's death prior to his final
conviction, the criminal action against him is extinguished. Consequently, the
civil action instituted therein for the recovery of the civil liability ex
delicto as to him is ipso facto extinguished, grounded as it is on the criminal
action. However, it is well to clarify that Edgar's civil liability in
connection with his acts against the victim may be based on sources other than
delicts; in which case, the victim's heirs may file a separate civil action
against Edgar's estate, as may be warranted by law and procedural rules.
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