This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2000-06-19 |
PUNO, J. |
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| The trial court imposed the death penalty[22] for the reason that the victim was under eighteen years old at the time of the commission of the offense and the offender was her father. In People vs. Garcia,[23] we held that these circumstances should be considered as special qualifying circumstances as they change the nature of simple rape by punishing the offender with the penalty of death. For a crime to be elevated in its qualified form, the circumstance that qualifies it should be alleged in the information. If the qualifying aggravating circumstance is not alleged but proved, it shall only be, considered as an aggravating circumstance since the latter may be proven even if not alleged.[24] It follows that in such cases, the accused can not be convicted of the crime in its qualified form. It is fundamental that every element of an offense must be alleged in the complaint or information. The purpose of the rule is to enable the accused to suitably prepare his defense. He is presumed to have no independent knowledge of the facts that constitute the offense.[25] Thus, we ruled that it is a denial of the right of an accused to be informed of the nature of the accusation against him, and consequently, a denial of due process if he is convicted of a crime in its qualified form notwithstanding the fact that the information, on which he was arraigned, charges him only of the crime in its simple form by not specifying the circumstance that qualifies the crime.[26] | |||||