Article 4: Manner of incurring criminal liability Flashcards
Elements of Proximate Cause - Art. 4 (1)
- That the intended act is a felonious act;
- The resulting act is a felony; and
- The resulting felony is the direct, natural, and logical consequence of the offender’s felonious act
What is proximate cause
it is that cause that sets into motion all other causes, and which unbroken by an efficient intervening cause, produces the felony without which the felony could not have resulted
What is an efficient intervening cause
Active force which is a distinct act or act absolutely foreign from the felonious act of the offender.
What is abberatio ictus
mistake in blow is a situation where the offender directed a blow at his intended victim, but because of poor aim, the blow landed on another person. There are two crimes committed herein; against the intended victim and the against the actual victim
What is the flora doctrine?
Treachery that attends the crime of the intended victim is also present in the killing of the actual victim.
What penalty applies in cases of aberratio ictus
Article 48. When a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies, or when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other, the penalty for the most serious crime shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its maximum period.
What is error in personae
Mistake in the identity. It is a situation where the offender directed a blow at the person whom he thought to be the intended victim.
What is the effect of error in personae on the offender’s criminal liability
Under Art. 49, if the intended felony is different from the felony actually committed, the lesser of the 2 penalties shall be imposed at its maximum period. However, if the intended felony is the same as the actual felony, the same provision shall not apply.
Is error in personae an absolutory cause
No. Pepole v. Sabalones is not an absolutory cause. Neither it is an exempting circumstance.
What is praeter intentionem
Consequence went beyond the situation. It is a situation where the offender directed a blow against the victim, the latter receiving it but the injurious effects are far greater than what would have been foreseen from the acts done
Elements of prater intentionem
- A felony has been committed; and
- There is a notable disparity between the means employed by the offender and the resulting felony
What is the effect on the liability of praeter intentionem
It is a mitigating circumstance. The offender has no intention to commit so grave a wrong as that committed.
What is an impossible crime
is one wherein the act one would have amounted to a crime against persons or property, but it is not accomplished because of its inherent impossibility, or employment of ineffectual or inadequate means
Elements of an impossible crime
- The act done would have amounted to a crime against persons or property;
- The act was done with evil intent;
- The act was not accomplished because of its inherent impossibility, or the employment of adequate or ineffectual means; and
- The act does not fall under any other provision of the RPC
2 kinds of inherent impossibility
- Legal impossibility - there is legal impossibility when all the intended acts, even if accomplished, will not produce a crime. Thus, under any and all circumstances, the act will not ripen into a crime
- Physical or factual impossibility - there is physical or factual impossibility when extraneous circumstances, unknown to the offender or beyond the control of the offender, prevented the consummation of the crime
