Case Digest (G.R. No. 172875)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Daniel Perez y Bacani, G.R. No. 172875, August 15, 2007, Second Division, Carpio Morales, J., writing for the Court.
The accused-appellant is Daniel Perez y Bacani; the private complainant is identified in the record as AAA. On January 27, 1998, appellant was charged by Information in the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Antipolo City (Criminal Case No. 98-14590), with rape allegedly committed on or about January 27, 1998 in Antipolo, Rizal, by means of force and intimidation while armed with a knife.
At trial, AAA testified that, between midnight and 12:30 a.m., she was awakened by a bladed weapon at her back and was threatened with death; appellant removed her short pants, digitally penetrated her, dragged her outside the house, forced her to lie under a mango tree, she obtained and threw away the knife, appellant caught her, lowered his trousers and had sexual intercourse with her. Her eldest son BBB corroborated parts of her account, stating he saw a "shadow" and later saw appellant lying on top of his mother; he also heard threats. A police officer testified that AAA reported the incident to the police and that appellant voluntarily accompanied officers to the detachment; a medico-legal report noted abrasions and genital findings and concluded the subject was in a non-virgin state.
Appellant denied forcible intercourse, claiming he visited AAA consensually the night before and that their conversation could have been misinterpreted; he also suggested AAA filed the complaint due to embarrassment. The RTC (Decision dated May 5, 2004) found AAA’s testimony more credible than appellant’s denial, convicted appellant of rape pursuant to Republic Act No. 8353, sentenced him to Reclusion Perpetua, and awarded AAA P50,000 as moral damages.
Appellant appealed. The Court of Appeals (CA) by Decision dated March 16, 2006, affirmed the RTC’s conviction but modified the award by adding P50,000 as civil indemnity to AAA (CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 00287), with the opinion penned by Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes, concurred in by Justices Arturo D. Brion a...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the trial court properly give full faith and credence to the complainant’s testimony in convicting appellant?
- Was appellant’s guilt of rape proven beyond reasonabl...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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