This case has been cited 3 times or more.
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2016-02-10 |
PEREZ, J. |
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| Basic is the rule that in every criminal case, the burden of proving the guilt of the accused falls upon the prosecution which has the duty of establishing all the essential elements of the crime.[17] However, in cases where the accused interposes the justifying circumstance of self-defense, this prosecutorial burden is shifted to the accused who himself must prove all the indispensable ingredients of such defense, to wit: (1) unlawful aggression on the part of the victim; (2) reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and (3) lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself.[18] | |||||
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2011-12-14 |
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J. |
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| Furthermore, in Sierra v. People,[70] we clarified that, in the past, the Court deemed sufficient the testimonial evidence regarding the minority and age of the accused provided the following conditions concur, namely: "(1) the absence of any other satisfactory evidence such as the birth certificate, baptismal certificate, or similar documents that would prove the date of birth of the accused; (2) the presence of testimony from accused and/or a relative on the age and minority of the accused at the time of the complained incident without any objection on the part of the prosecution; and (3) lack of any contrary evidence showing that the accused's and/or his relatives' testimonies are untrue."[71] | |||||
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2010-01-06 |
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J. |
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| This Court, however, modifies the award of civil indemnity and damages in favor of AAA. In line with recent case laws, the compensation to be awarded in favor of the private offended party in cases of statutory rape or simple rape committed with the use of a deadly weapon should be in the amounts of P75,000.00 as civil indemnity and another P75,000.00 as moral damages.[29] Exemplary or corrective damages are imposed by way of example or correction for the public good and when the crime was committed with one or more aggravating circumstances.[30] According to current jurisprudence, exemplary damages should be awarded in favor of the private offended party in the amount of P30,000.00 in statutory or simple rape cases.[31] In the present case, the award of P75,000.00 as civil indemnity and another P75,000.00 as moral damages in favor of AAA is appropriate. The award of P30,000.00 as exemplary damages should also be imposed as a public example in order "to protect hapless individuals from [sexual] molestation"[32] and because of the presence of the aggravating circumstance of the commission of the crime in the dwelling[33] of AAA. | |||||