Case Digest (G.R. No. 5597)
Facts:
The United States v. D.B. Jeffrey, G.R. No. 5597. March 05, 1910, the Supreme Court En Banc, Torres, J., writing for the Court. The principal parties are the United States (plaintiff-appellee) and D. B. Jeffrey (defendant-appellant).
On the evening of March 1, 1909, in a Chinese shop in Guadalupe, municipality of San Pedro Macati, Province of Rizal, D. B. Jeffrey struck Teodorica Saguinsin three times on the hip with a bottle he was carrying. The victim fell with an abundant hemorrhage; she was taken home in a carretela and, being three months pregnant, suffered a miscarriage the following day as certified by the president of the municipal board of health. The woman required medical attention and was incapacitated for forty-five days.
A provincial fiscal filed a complaint on June 5, 1909 in the Court of First Instance of Rizal charging Jeffrey with the crime of lesiones menos graves; the complaint expressly alleged that the assault resulted in a serious hemorrhage followed by a miscarriage and attended disability. At arraignment the complaint was read and translated into English to the accused, who pleaded not guilty. At trial witnesses corroborated that Jeffrey struck the victim with a bottle; Jeffrey denied more than a light push with an index finger and asserted he did not ill-treat her. A military surgeon who examined the woman seven days later found no signs of abortion, but the municipal health officer who examined and attended the victim certified that a miscarriage had occurred.
On August 19, 1909 the Court of First Instance convicted Jeffrey of lesiones menos graves and sentenced him to forty-five days arresto mayor, fined him 325 pesetas, ordered indemnity of P50 with subsidiary imprisonment for insolvency, and awarded costs. Jeffrey appealed. The Supreme Court reviewed the case on appeal and, Torres, J., after examining the evidence and the complaint, set aside the trial court ju...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- May an accused lawfully be convicted and sentenced for the crime of abortion when he was formally charged with lesiones menos graves?
- Did the evidence establish that Jeffrey's conduct caused the miscarriage and warrant conviction and what penalty ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)