Case Digest (G.R. No. 133831)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Apolonio Cultura, G.R. No. 133831, February 14, 2003, the Supreme Court Third Division, Sandoval-Gutierrez, J., writing for the Court. The decision was concurred in by Puno (Chairman), Panganiban, Corona, and Carpio-Morales, JJ.The prosecution charged accused-appellant Apolonio Cultura with rape by Information filed May 13, 1996 in Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 43, Dumaguete City (Criminal Case No. 12492). The Information alleged that on April 9, 1996 at about noon in a barangay within the RTC’s jurisdiction, Cultura used force and intimidation with a knife and had sexual intercourse with an eleven-year-old victim, identified in the record as AAA, without her consent, contrary to Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code.
At arraignment the accused pleaded not guilty and trial followed. The prosecution presented AAA’s testimony that while bathing and catching shrimps alone in the Siaton River, Cultura approached her, boxed her twice causing unconsciousness, and she later regained consciousness naked in a bamboo grove with profuse vaginal bleeding; she met Cultura on the road thereafter, who threatened to kill her family if she told anyone. Her father and the barangay captain observed blood on her clothing; police blottered the incident and she was taken to Bayawan District Hospital where Dr. Mitylene Besario Tan found a lacerated wound of the vaginal mucosa extending to the perineum that required suturing. The defense presented the accused and his tricycle (trysicad) driver, Roger Sumili, who testified that Cultura was driving in poblacion Siaton around noon and that the poblacion and the scene were traversable by trysicad; Cultura pleaded alibi and denied the offense.
On March 16, 1998 the RTC convicted Cultura of rape under Article 335 and imposed reclusion perpetua and ordered indemnity of P50,000.00. Cultura appealed to the Supreme Court. The Court revi...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the conviction of Apolonio Cultura for rape supported by evidence beyond reasonable doubt?
- Was the rape properly characterized under the applicable paragraph of Article 335 (i.e., unconsciousness vs. minority), given the prosecution’s failure to prove the victim’s age?
- Was the award for civil indemnity and moral damages appropriat...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)