Case Digest (G.R. No. 133643)
Facts:
Nicolas Juarez v. Ramona D. Turon, G.R. No. 28643. March 19, 1928, the Supreme Court En Banc, Johns, J., writing for the Court.Plaintiff-appellant Nicolas Juarez filed a complaint for divorce on February 10, 1927, alleging marriage to Ramona D. Turon on October 28, 1921, the birth of a minor daughter, and that the defendant had been convicted of adultery with Gregorio Ramos in Criminal Case No. 32005 of the Court of First Instance of Manila; the complaint asserted the criminal judgment had become final and executed and alleged absence of conjugal and private property. The complaint was amended on August 11, 1927 to add allegations of domicile, non-pardon/consent, and that the action was filed within one year after plaintiff acquired knowledge of the cause.
The defendant was declared in default. At trial the plaintiff offered, among other things, a certified copy of the criminal conviction (Exhibit B) and testified on his own behalf. The trial court received the plaintiff’s evidence but denied relief and dismissed the complaint. Its written decision held (1) the criminal judgment, while proving that guilt had been established in a criminal proceeding, was not admissible in the civil divorce action to establish the underlying fact of adultery beyond that limited purpose, citing Greenleaf on Evidence and Ocampo v. Jenkins, 14 Phil. 681; and (2) the action was time-barred under Act No. 2710 because plaintiff’s own testimony showed he became aware of the adultery in August 1924 yet did not file until February 10, 1927, more than one year later.
Plaintiff appealed, assigning errors that the trial court erred in (1) declaring the criminal judgment (Exhibit B) not evidentiary of adultery in the civil action, (2) holding the action barred by Act No. 2710, and (3) refusing to decree the divorce. The Supreme Court, Johns, J., affirmed the lo...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the divorce action time-barred under the prescription provisions of Act No. 2710, Section 4?
- May a final criminal judgment convicting a spouse of adultery be received as conclusive evidence of adultery in a subsequent civil action for divorce under Act No. 2710, or is ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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