Case Digest (G.R. No. L-7705)
Facts:
- Defendant: Miguel Gervacio
- Defendant found guilty of estafa for misappropriating sweepstakes tickets and their value
- Lower court sentenced defendant to six months and one day of prision correccional
- Defendant ordered to indemnify the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in the amount of P9,060
- Subsidiary imprisonment imposed in case of insolvency
Issue:
- (Unlock)
Ruling:
- Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the lower court but modified...(Unlock)
Ratio:
- Regarding the first issue, the Court rejected the argument that the case should be considered civil because the offended party accepted partial payment.
- Misappropriating, misapplying, or converting the tickets or their value with unfaithfulness or abuse of confidence is an offense defined in the law (Article 315 1 (b), Revised Penal Code).
- Acceptance of partial payment by the offended party does not extinguish criminal liability.
- Criminal offense is committed against the People and the offended party cannot waive or extinguish the criminal liability imposed by law.
- Regarding the second issue, the Court acknowledged the argument that the penalty imposed may be too strict considering the decrease in the value of money since the fixing of the penalty in the Revised Penal Code in 1930.
- Court clarified that it is not authorized to adjust penalties according to the changing value of the legal currency, as this falls within the province of the Legislature.
- However, the penalty imposed by the trial court, six month...continue reading
Case Digest (G.R. No. L-7705)
Facts:
In the case of People v. Gervacio, the defendant, Miguel Gervacio, was charged with estafa for misappropriating sweepstakes tickets and their value. The defendant received these tickets from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) with the obligation to sell them and make an accounting of the proceeds. However, Gervacio failed to comply with his obligation and instead misappropriated, misapplied, and converted the tickets or their value for his own personal use and benefit. The lower court found Gervacio guilty of estafa and sentenced him to imprisonment for six months and one day of prision correccional, as well as ordering him to indemnify the PCSO in the amount of P9,060.
Issue:
The main issues raised in the appeal were as follows:
- Whether the lower court erred in not considering the case as civil due to partial payment accepted by the offended party.
- Whether the lower court erred in imposing the penalty prescribed in the 2nd paragraph of Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code instead of the penalties prescribed in Article 316 (3) or Article 318.
Ruling:
In response to the first issue, the Supreme Court held that the acceptance of partial payment by the offended party does not extinguish criminal liability. The act of misappropriating, misapplying, or converting the tickets or their value with unfaithfulness or abuse of confidence is an offense defined in the law. The offended party cannot waive or extinguish the criminal liability imposed by the law for the commission of the offense.
Regarding the second issue, the Supreme Court stated that courts are not authorized to adjust penalties based on the changi...