Case Digest (G.R. No. 108172-73)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Conrado Lucas y Briones, G.R. No. 108172-73, January 09, 1995, Supreme Court En Banc, Davide, Jr., J., writing for the Court. The case arose from two criminal convictions handed down by Branch 104 of the Regional Trial Court, Quezon City (decisions of 28 October 1992) in Criminal Cases No. Q-91-18465 and Q-91-18466, which the accused appealed. On 25 May 1994 the Supreme Court First Division issued a decision that affirmed guilt but, in light of Section 21 of R.A. No. 7659 (which amended Article 27 of the Revised Penal Code by fixing the duration of reclusion perpetua at twenty years and one day to forty years), addressed whether reclusion perpetua had become a divisible penalty. The First Division concluded that although Congress did not amend Article 76, it could apply Article 65 of the Revised Penal Code to divide the time range for reclusion perpetua into three equal periods and accordingly modified the trial court's sentence in Criminal Case No. Q-91-18465 to "imprisonment of 34 years, 4 months and 1 day of reclusion perpetua."The People, dissatisfied with a numerical phrasing in that division, filed a motion for clarification on 28 June 1994 asking correction of the periods posited by the First Division. The First Division referred the motion for clarification to the Court En Banc because the question whether R.A. No. 7659 had made reclusion perpetua divisible was an issue of first impression and sufficient importance. The En Banc Court accepted the referral, examined the legislative history of R.A. No. 7659 (including SB No. 891 and HB No. 62 and Senator Tolentino's sponsorship speeches), considered prior jurisprudence notably People v. Reyes (212 SCRA 402), and re-evaluated the applicability of Articles 63, 65, 70, 76 and 77 of the Revised Penal Code to the amended Article 27. After deliberation, the Court En Banc issued this resolution modifying the First Division's decision by deleting the disquisition that reclusion perpetua is divisib...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the First Division correctly divide the penalty of reclusion perpetua into three periods under Article 65 of the Revised Penal Code after the amendment effected by R.A. No. 7659?
- Whether the amendment of Article 27 of the Revised Penal Code by R.A. No. 7659 — fixing the duration of reclusion perpetua at twenty (20) years and one (1) day to forty (40) years — converted reclusion perpetua from an i...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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