Case Digest (G.R. No. 104954)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Mario Fabro y Arquiza, G.R. No. 104954, December 13, 1994, Supreme Court Second Division, Puno, J., writing for the Court. The plaintiff-appellee is the People of the Philippines; the accused-appellant is Mario Fabro y Arquiza; the private complainant is Rebecca Seguancia.The Information charged appellant with rape committed on or about May 14, 1989 in Tayug, Pangasinan. At the time, private complainant was a live-in maid of Reyval Lopez; appellant formerly worked for Lopez and his wife Janet Fabro was a co-worker. According to the complainant, while trying to buy band-aids she was trailed by appellant, who then grabbed and dragged her into a dark place, kissed her, choked her until she lost consciousness, and when she awoke she found herself naked from the waist down, aching, with sticky matter on her sexual organ and appellant at her side zipping his pants. A bystander, Jeffrey Cabrales, arrived and appellant fled. Complainant reported the incident to Lopez and to police the same night and underwent a medico-legal examination on May 15, 1989.
The hospital record showed a linear abrasion on the left elbow, vaginal orifice that admitted one finger with resistance, contusions at the lateral aspects of the labia minora, no fresh hymenal or vaginal lacerations, and a vaginal smear negative for spermatozoa. Complainant surrendered the denim pants and t-shirt she wore that night and later gave a formal statement.
Appellant testified that the acts were consensual kissing and partial undressing, that they did not consummate intercourse (“it will not enter”), and that a gunshot caused their separation; after his arrest he wrote a long letter to Lopez and his common-law wife expressing remorse and asking forgiveness. The Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 52, Tayug (Crim. Case No. T-1009), convicted appellant of rape and imposed an indeterminate term (Prision Mayor as minimum to Reclusion Temporal as maximum) and awarded moral damages. The Court of Appeals (Tenth Divisi...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the prosecution prove appellant’s guilt for rape beyond reasonable doubt?
- Did the Court of Appeals err in increasing the penalty from the indeterminate term imposed by the trial court to reclusi...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)