Case Digest (G.R. No. 99263)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Pacifico Lazaro y Repizo, G.R. No. 99263, October 12, 1995, Supreme Court First Division, Bellosillo, J., writing for the Court. The plaintiff-appellee was the People of the Philippines; the defendant-appellant was Pacifico Lazaro y Repizo (alias "Piko").On 20 July 1989, at about 5:00 p.m., Pacifico Lazaro visited the house of Jose Lucio Lim in San Andres Bukid, Manila. Jose Lucio Lim's five-year-old daughter Jocelyn was on the second floor asleep on a bed; a neighbor child and cousin, Mylene Lim (a Grade VI pupil), was on the ground-floor living room adjacent to a sari-sari store run by Andrea Lim. According to the prosecution, Lazaro touched and accosted Mylene downstairs; after Mylene reported the incident to Andrea and was told to stay away, Lazaro went upstairs, removed Jocelyn's clothing and his own short pants, and inserted his erect organ into Jocelyn's private parts while holding her down; Jocelyn cried but did not shout.
Mylene testified she went upstairs, saw Lazaro half-naked on top of Jocelyn moving his buttocks, and immediately informed her cousin Jefferson, who fetched a knife and confronted Lazaro. Jose Lim was notified, brought Jocelyn to the Western Police District and the NBI for examination; Dr. Noel B. Minay of the NBI found no extragenital physical injury and an intact hymen but later noted discoloration of the labia minora that could have been caused by attempted penetration. Mylene positively identified Lazaro at the station.
A complaint for rape was filed on 21 July 1989. At trial Lazaro asserted alibi—that between about 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on the date in question he was at home ill—and presented no corroborating witnesses. The Regional Trial Court (Manila), after hearing testimony (including Jocelyn and Mylene) and reviewing the medico-legal report, found Lazaro guilty of consummated statutory rape, sentenced him to reclusion perpetua, and awarded moral, exemplary, and actual damages to the victims and family; the trial court held that rupture of the hymen or laceration is not necessary to sustain a conviction in the rape of a young girl.
Accused-appellant appealed; the record before the Supreme Court contains the trial court decision and the transcripts of testimony, and the appeal presents challenges to witness credibility, the sufficiency of medical findings, claimed inconsistenc...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was the trial court's credibility assessment of the child victim and the eyewitness properly sustained on appeal?
- Did the absence of extragenital injury and an intact hymen preclude a conviction for consummated statutory rape and instead reduce the offense to acts of lasciviousness?
- Was the accused's alibi and charge of fabrication by the family sufficient to create reasonable d...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
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Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)