Case Digest (G.R. No. 133189)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Solomon Purazo, G.R. No. 133189, May 05, 2003, the Supreme Court En Banc, Bellosillo, J., writing for the Court. The respondent-appellant is Solomon Purazo (accused-appellant); the victim and private complainant is his daughter AAA; the prosecution is the People of the Philippines (plaintiff-appellee). The trial court (Regional Trial Court, Branch 18, Cebu City) convicted Purazo of rape and sentenced him to death; this case arrived at the Supreme Court by automatic review because of the death sentence.The proof consisted of six prosecution witnesses: AAA herself; SPO4 Norma Corbo (police investigator); DSWD social worker Mae Silva; and three physicians (Drs. Khosravibabadi, Semilla and Acebes). AAA testified she had been sexually molested beginning at age seven and repeatedly raped by her father until about age eleven–twelve; she recounted a last forcible intercourse at a seashore in April 1997. Medical examinations showed an elastic hymen admitting one finger with difficulty, negative spermatozoa (which may dissipate within days), and healed hymenal lacerations at Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital. On 8 May 1997 AAA reported the abuse at the barangay hall after a beating by her father; a complaint for rape was filed on 19 May 1997, alleging the assault occurred “sometime in March 1997, and for sometime subsequent thereto.”
At trial the defense presented two witnesses: Purazo and his sister Rebecca. Purazo pleaded alibi and denied the charges, contending AAA fabricated the story out of spite for corporal punishment and alleging chronic work hours that would preclude the acts. On 24 November 1997 the trial court found Purazo guilty beyond reasonable doubt of incestuous (qualified) rape and imposed death and P100,000 moral damages. Because the penalty was death, the case came to the Supreme Court on automati...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was the complaint defective for failing to allege the precise time of commission of the offense so as to prejudice the accused's defense?
- Did the trial court err in crediting the prosecution witnesses and convicting the accused (i.e., was the conviction supported by credible evidence)?
- Having found qualified rape, should the death penalty be imposed or reduced under the statutory and jurisprudential scheme (Article 335 RPC as amended by R.A. No....(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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