Case Digest (G.R. No. 139413-15)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Endrico Galas, G.R. Nos. 139413-15, March 20, 2001, Supreme Court En Banc, Gonzaga-Reyes, J., writing for the Court.The case arose from three informations filed against Endrico Galas charging him with rape of his daughter Sharon Galas on or about February 5, 1997 (Criminal Case No. 0333), February 28, 1997 (Criminal Case No. 0334), and July 1997 (Criminal Case No. 0335). The accused was arraigned April 28, 1998 and originally pleaded not guilty to all three informations. At hearings on May 7, 1999 and June 3, 1999 he manifested through counsel his desire to change his plea and ultimately, during re-arraignment, entered a plea of guilty in Criminal Case No. 0334.
At trial the prosecution presented the victim Sharon as its principal witness. Sharon described in detail the incidents on February 5 and February 28, 1997 and testified that the accused also had intercourse with her in July 1997. She said she did not resist because her father was big and carried a bolo. A medical examination on August 7, 1997 by the rural health physician, Dr. Tomas Saiton, Jr., recorded healed hymenal lacerations and assessed "physical virginity lost." The trial court found the accused guilty in Criminal Case No. 0334, sentenced him to death, and ordered indemnity and damages of P100,000 (P70,000 indemnity; P30,000 moral and exemplary damages); Criminal Cases Nos. 0333 and 0335 were dismissed. Because of the death sentence, Criminal Case No. 0334 was subject to automatic review by the Supreme Court.
On automatic review the accused-appellant assigned two errors: (1) that his plea of guilty was improvident because the trial court did not fully apprize him of the consequences (particularly that death could be imposed despite his plea), and (2) that, assuming the plea was proper, the trial court erred in imposing the death penalty. The record reflects the trial court and defense counsel asked the accused if he understood he "may be meted a penalty of reclusion perpetua to death" and counsel answered he had so informed the accused; the accused answered in the local dialect that he understood and persisted in h...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the accused-appellant's plea of guilty in Criminal Case No. 0334 improvidently made?
- If the plea is disregarded, does the evidence support conviction for rape with imposition of the death penalty, or must the conviction/penalty be modified because the victim's age was not proven be...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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