Circumstances - Mitigating Flashcards
Criminal Law 2018 VIIb
Robbie and Rannie are both inmates of the National Penitentiary, serving the maximum penalty for robbery which they committed some years before and for which they have been sentenced by final judgment. One day, Robbie tried to collect money owed by Rannie. Rannie insisted that he did not owe Robbie anything, and after a shouting episode, Rannie kicked Robbie in the stomach. Robbie fell to the ground in pain, and Rannie left him to go to the toilet to relieve himself. As Rannie was opening the door to the toilet and with his back turned against Robbie, Robbie stabbed him in the back with a bladed weapon that he had concealed in his waist. Hurt, Rannie ran to the nearest “kubol” where he fell. Robbie ran after him· and, while Rannie was lying on the ground, Robbie continued to stab him, inflicting a total of 15 stab wounds. He died on the spot. Robbie immediately surrendered to the Chief Warden. When prosecuted for the murder of Rannie, Robbie raised provocation and voluntary surrender as mitigating circumstances. The prosecution, on the other hand, claimed that there was treachery in the commission of the crime.
(b) Can the mitigating circumstances raised by Robbie, if proven, lower the penalty for the crime committed?
No. If proven, the presence of the mitigating circumstances of lack of sufficient provocation and voluntary surrender would be of no consequence as quasi-recidivism cannot be offset by any ordinary mitigating circumstance.
People v. Macariola, GR L-40757, 24 January 1983
