Title
People vs. Nieto y Cabalse
Case
G.R. No. 177756
Decision Date
Mar 3, 2008
A mentally disabled woman with a mental age of five was raped twice by the accused, whose alibi was rejected; conviction upheld based on credible testimony and medical evidence.
rape
mental retardate
appellant

Case Summary (G.R. No. 177756)

Informations, Arraignment, and Trial Posture

The prosecution initiated two separate criminal proceedings for rape based on two distinct dates. In Criminal Case No. U-10586, the information alleged that on or about 3 January 2000, the appellant, by means of force, had sexual intercourse with AAA, who was a mentally retarded person with the stated mental age, “without her consent and against her will.” In Criminal Case No. U-10587, the information alleged that on or about 30 December 1999, the appellant brought and carried AAA to the ricefield and then, by means of force, had sexual intercourse with her without consent and against her will. Upon arraignment on 17 April 2000, the appellant, assisted by counsel de oficio, pleaded NOT GUILTY. Trial then proceeded, with the prosecution relying principally on AAA’s testimony, supported by police investigation evidence, medico-legal findings, and a psychologist’s assessment of AAA’s mental condition.

Prosecution Evidence on the Commission and the Victim’s Mental Condition

AAA testified that she was already twenty-four years old when the alleged first incident occurred. Her parents had been separated, and she lived with her grandmother in Barangay XXX. Her schooling had reached Grade II due to illnesses. On the night of 30 December 1999, she stated that she was alone at her grandmother’s house when someone entered and that she recognized the intruder as the appellant, who was also their neighbor. She narrated that the appellant fooled her, pulled her out of the house, and brought her to a nearby farmland. There, he removed all clothes and undressed her. She testified that the appellant fondled her breasts and inserted his penis into her vagina, causing her significant pain. She further testified that on the night of 3 January 2000, when her grandmother was in Manila, the appellant came to their house, began with conversation, learned that only the two of them were present, and then forced her to have sexual intercourse. Despite her resistance, she claimed that he was stronger than her and succeeded in inserting his penis into her vagina. AAA related that she disclosed the incidents to her sister and brother. She reported the rapes to the police station with her sister and aunt and submitted to a physical examination at a hospital in Urdaneta, Pangasinan.

SPO3 Maximiano Balelo testified that AAA was brought to him for investigation on 6 January 2000 and that he took the statements of AAA and of AAA’s sister and aunt. He confirmed that AAA reported two instances of sexual abuse by the appellant—on 30 December 1999 and 3 January 2000—and that these statements were reduced into writing and recorded in the police blotter. Dr. Francisco Llamas, the medico-legal officer, testified that he physically examined AAA on 6 January 2000. He did not find physical injuries on her head and neck. He observed hyperemic or red areas on her breasts and noted a healed laceration on her hymen at the 6:00 o’clock position. He concluded that the laceration could have been caused by a blunt object, possibly an erect penis, inserted into AAA’s vagina, and he added that the laceration appeared to be a day old.

To establish AAA’s mental condition, the prosecution presented Ruby Martinez Bell, a psychologist from the Philippine Mental Health Association, Inc., Baguio-Benguet Chapter. She testified that she administered several tests, including a Stanford-Binet Test, Draw-a-Person Test, Bender-Gestalt Test, and a Vineyard Social Maturity Scale, and attempted to give a Sentence Completion Test, but AAA could not understand it. Based on the test results, the psychologist concluded that AAA belonged to the severely mentally retarded category, with an I.Q. of 30, corresponding to an I.Q. level equivalent to that of a five-year-and-three-month-old child. She also stated that AAA had difficulty comprehending tests and could recognize some common objects but could not do much reasoning or define abstract terms.

Defense Evidence and the Theory of Impossibility

The appellant did not dispute the alleged acts directly through affirmative evidence; instead, the defense advanced denial and alibi, supplemented by witnesses to show the appellant’s presence elsewhere during the times of the rape incidents. The defense presented Calixto Parocha, Ernesto Salvatierra, CCC (AAA’s father), Dominador Nieto (the appellant’s brother), Leticia Nieto (the appellant’s sister-in-law), and the appellant himself. The testimonies of Parocha, Salvatierra, and CCC focused on an alleged rape incident in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija committed by Arsenio Corpuz, and they candidly admitted that their statements before the trial court related to that incident rather than the events in Barangay XXX at issue in these informations. The defense therefore treated prior alleged abuse in another locality as relevant to AAA’s overall credibility and identification.

Dominador Nieto testified that on 30 December 1999 he was at a barangay dance party acting as a guard because he was a member of the barangay Civilian Volunteers Organization. He claimed that the appellant was also at the dance party because he was the barangay electrician and was there to fix lighting. He stated that they went around 7:00 p.m. and stayed until 3:00 a.m. on 31 December 1999, and he insisted that the appellant never left during that interval. On cross-examination, however, he admitted that the dance party venue was only one kilometer away from the place where the rape incident happened. Leticia Nieto testified that on 3 January 2000 the appellant went to their house at around 6:00 p.m. to compute the cost of materials for constructing a terrace and the main door of their house. She stated that the appellant had dinner with them around 8:00 p.m. and stayed until 11:00 p.m., then went home. She claimed that their house was about twenty meters away from the appellant’s house and about one hundred meters away from the complainant’s house. Finally, the appellant testified as the defense’s final witness. He denied having seen AAA on both dates and claimed that it was impossible for him to have committed the offenses. For 30 December 1999, he reiterated that he was at the barangay dance hall designated to install the sound system and lights, staying from about 7:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. of 31 December 1999. For 3 January 2000, he claimed that he was at his brother’s house, about twenty meters away from his own, from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. after discussing construction materials and eating dinner. On cross-examination, he admitted that the dance hall was only one kilometer away from AAA’s house and that a tricycle could reach AAA’s house because it was near the road, while walking could reach it in about one hour. He also admitted that his brother’s house was more than one hundred meters away from AAA’s house and that AAA’s house was about eighty meters away from the appellant’s house.

RTC and Court of Appeals Dispositions

After trial, the RTC rendered a decision dated 15 September 2000, finding the appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt of simple rape in both cases. It sentenced him to reclusion perpetua in each case and ordered the following civil liabilities: in Criminal Case No. U-10586, P50,000.00 as civil indemnity and P20,000.00 as exemplary damages; in Criminal Case No. U-10587, the same amounts. On appeal, the Court of Appeals decision dated 31 October 2006 affirmed the conviction but modified the award to include additional moral damages of P50,000.00 in each case.

Issue on Review: Credibility and Corroboration

On further review, the Supreme Court approached the case by first noting that the victim’s mental retardation was not disputed. That fact had been proven by the psychologist’s testimony and report. The remaining issue involved the credibility of AAA’s testimony on sexual intercourse and the identification of the appellant as the perpetrator on the dates alleged. The appellant insisted that AAA’s testimony should be disregarded due to purported “serious and inexplicable discrepancies” in material details during cross-examination.

Treatment of Alleged Discrepancies and AAA’s Testimony

The alleged discrepancies referred to AAA’s cross-examination testimony about a prior rape incident with another person while she was in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija. During cross-examination, AAA answered that the brother of her father’s wife had “fooled” her and then referred, in substance, to Jolin-jolin (identified as Arsenio Corpuz) as the person who raped her five times, on different dates but on successive nights, and she explained that what happened in Cuyapo was “another thing.” The appellant argued that these answers created doubt as to AAA’s credibility and identity of her rapist. The Supreme Court rejected the argument. It reiterated that in sexual crimes where the accused denies culpability, the case often turns on credibility, a matter best addressed to the trial court due to its unique opportunity to observe the witness’s deportment, and that absent cogent reasons, appellate interference with the trial court’s assessment was not warranted, especially where the Court of Appeals had likewise sustained those findings.

The Court held that no substantial reason existed to depart from the trial court and appellate court assessments of AAA’s testimony. The Court characterized AAA’s testimony as categorical and straightforward. She described, in detail, how she was ravished by the appellant on 30 December 1999 and 3 January 2000, and she positively identified the appellant as the person who raped her. The Court added that no motive for AAA to fabricate the charges was shown. The Court further reasoned that AAA’s mental age would bolster, rather than undermine, her credibility, because a child of that mental age would not likely publicly admit to defloration, submit to examination, and expose herself to trial unless the allegations were true. It also emphasized that hymenal lacerations, wh

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