Case Digest (G.R. No. 144428)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Juan M. Rosario, G.R. No. 144428, August 06, 2003, the Supreme Court En Banc, Per Curiam. The case is an automatic review of a Regional Trial Court, Branch 57, San Carlos City Decision dated June 26, 2000, penned by Judge Bienvenido R. Estrada, which found appellant Juan M. Rosario guilty of incestuous rape and imposed the death penalty.The Information charged that on or about April 8, 2000 at around 1:00 a.m. in Lucban, San Carlos City, Rosario, by means of violence, force and intimidation and with lewd design, had sexual intercourse with his daughter AAA, then 13 years old, contrary to Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act No. 7659. Upon arraignment, appellant pleaded not guilty and trial ensued.
The prosecution presented three witnesses: the victim AAA, Dr. Maria Salome G. Romero (the examining physician), and Virgie Manzon (the victim’s aunt). AAA testified that while sleeping she awoke to the weight of someone on her; she felt pain and that her panty was gone; she said her father inserted his penis into her vagina despite her pleas to stop; after ejaculation he left and returned to his and her mother’s bedroom. She immediately sought her grandmother and then went with her aunt to report the incident to the police and to the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital, where Dr. Romero examined her the same dawn and issued a medico-legal certificate noting old partial lacerations of the hymen at multiple clock positions and the presence of sperm cells in the vaginal canal.
Appellant denied the charge, testifying he slept in his bedroom on the relevant night, investigated barking dogs, and later was awakened by another daughter and then by police; he claimed he whipped AAA for being hardheaded and suggested the accusation arose from that discipline. While in custody he wrote a letter to his mother seeking forgiveness. The trial court found AAA’s testimony credible, relied on the medico-legal findings and the Certificate of Live Birth showing AAA’s age and parentage, convicted Rosario of incestuous rape under Article 335 as amended by R.A. No. 7659, and imposed death plus civil indemnity and damages.
Rosario appealed by w...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the prosecution able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that appellant Juan M. Rosario was the perpetrator of the rape charged?
- If guilt is established, is the imposition of the death penalty proper under Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by R.A. No. 7659, given the victim’s age and relationship to the offender, and what...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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