Case Digest (G.R. No. 58854)
Facts:
Belen Mazo v. Honorable Municipal Court of Tambulig, Zamboanga del Sur, and the People of the Philippines, G.R. No. L-58854, March 25, 1982, First Division, Teehankee, J., writing for the Court.
Petitioner Belen Mazo was accused of the crime of grave threats in a series of complaints filed in the Municipal Court of Tambulig, Zamboanga del Sur and later in the Court of First Instance (CFI). The first complaint was docketed as Criminal Case No. 1002, filed September 29, 1978 by Station Commander Lt. Eugenio G. Ilustrisimo and subscribed before Municipal Judge Gualberto B. Bacarro, Sr.; the petitioner was arraigned and pleaded not guilty in that case.
The records of Criminal Case No. 1002 were elevated to the CFI as Criminal Case No. 2571, but the CFI dismissed that case for lack of jurisdiction and ordered the records remanded to the Municipal Court. Instead of proceeding to trial on the remanded Criminal Case No. 1002, the Municipal Court later issued an order (dated September 2, 1981) removing Case No. 1002 from its docket and deeming it dismissed.
A different complaint, filed August 11, 1979 by Station Commander Lt. Policronio S. Fuentes and subscribed before the City Fiscal Baldomero Fernandez of Pagadian City, was docketed as Criminal Case No. 1068 (a "new" complaint). The Municipal Court treated Case No. 1068 as a "latter revival" of Case No. 1002 and denied petitioner’s motion to quash the arrest warrant and to dismiss Case No. 1068 despite her plea of double jeopardy.
Petitioner filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition on October 15, 1981 (seeking nullification of the municipal court’s denial of her motion), and the Solicitor General, in extensive comment for the People, agreed that petitioner had already been placed in jeopardy by the earlier proceedings and recommended dismissal of Case No. 1068. A temporary restraining order was issued on February 1, 1982 restraining the presiding judge from proceeding with Case No. 1068. The Supreme Court First Division resolved the petition and, upon the Solicitor General’s recommendation and after considering the proced...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether the municipal court erred in denying petitioner’s motion to quash and to dismiss Criminal Case No. 1068, thereby subjecting petitioner to double jeopardy.
- Whether the dismissal of Criminal Case No. 1002 after petitioner’s arraignment and plea of not guilty operates as a bar to prosecution in a subsequently filed complaint for the same offense (i.e., whether Criminal Case No. 1068 can be tre...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
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Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)