Case Summary (G.R. No. 88582)
Key Dates and Procedural Posture
October 10, 1986 – Alleged rape and insertion of a foreign object at MGM Hotel, Olongapo City.
May 14–20, 1987 – Rosario’s hospital admission, surgery, and death from peritonitis and septicemia.
March 29, 1989 – Trial court convicts Ritter of rape with homicide and sentences him to reclusion perpetua.
March 5, 1991 – Supreme Court decision applying the 1987 Constitution.
Applicable Law
Article 335(3), Revised Penal Code (rape of a woman under 12 years of age).
Rule 130 Sec. 40, Rules of Court (hearsay exceptions for pedigree).
Rule 133 Sec. 4, Rules of Court (requirements for circumstantial evidence).
Article 4, RPC (causation in criminal liability).
Trial Court Findings and Conviction
The Regional Trial Court held Rosario was under 12 at the time of the incident, constituting statutory rape. It credited oral pedigree declarations by the victim’s relatives, clinical and death records, and eyewitness testimony. Ritter was sentenced to reclusion perpetua, ordered to indemnify heirs ₱60,000, and to pay ₱10,000 in attorney’s fees.
Issue I: Victim’s Age and Evidentiary Rules
The Supreme Court found the trial court misapplied the pedigree exception: the grandmother and father were alive, present, and testified after controversy arose, disqualifying their declarations as hearsay exceptions. Nonfamily testimony and hospital records lacked personal knowledge of Rosario’s birth.
Issue I: Baptismal Record vs. Oral Declarations
A subpoenaed baptismal registry certified Rosario’s baptism on December 25, 1974, born December 26, 1973. Oral assertions that she was born in 1975 were deemed unreliable. The baptismal entry, as a business record, disproved Rosario’s alleged 1975 birth and established her as over 12 at the 1986 incident.
Issue II: Absence of Statutory Rape Elements
Having failed to prove Rosario was under 12, the prosecution needed proof of force, intimidation, or deprivation of reason. Evidence instead showed voluntary submission for monetary payment (₱300), negating nonconsent. No credible proof of force or unconsciousness was presented.
Issue III: Insufficient Proof of Homicide by Foreign Object
Conviction relied on circumstantial proof that Ritter inserted a vibrator portion causing death. Principal witness Ramirez neither saw the insertion nor directly identified the extracted object. His testimony was contradictory and hearsay. Medical expert Dr. Pedro Solis testified infection from such a foreign body manifests within weeks, not seven months, casting doubt on causation.
Circumstantial Evidence and Reasonable Doubt
The circumstantial chain was not “unbroken” to exclude all hypotheses of innocence. Contradictions in timelines, alternate perpetrators (vict
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Facts of the Case
- On or about October 10, 1986, in Olongapo City, accused Heinrich S. Ritter invited two street children—Jessie Ramirez and Rosario Baluyot—into his room at the MGM Hotel.
- He instructed them to bathe; while Rosario was in the bathroom, he displayed photographs of young boys and three “vicks‐inhaler–like” objects, one of which was a grayish‐blue foreign object later alleged to be part of a sexual vibrator.
- Ritter allegedly masturbated with Jessie and then placed himself between Jessie and Rosario, fingering Rosario and attempting vaginal penetration; the foreign object was said to have been inserted into Rosario’s vagina.
- The following morning, Ritter paid Jessie ₱200 and Rosario ₱300, then left; Rosario suffered pain thereafter but reported removal of the object.
- Months later, on May 14, 1987, Rosario was found unconscious, bloodied, and foul‐smelling; she was brought to Olongapo City General Hospital, diagnosed with peritonitis and septicemia, and underwent surgery on May 19, 1987 to remove a lodged portion of a vibrator.
- Rosario died on May 20, 1987; cause of death was cardio‐respiratory arrest secondary to septicemia from the foreign object.
Procedural History
- Information filed for rape with homicide under Article 335(3), Revised Penal Code.
- Trial court heard 24 prosecution witnesses and six defense witnesses, admitted Exhibits 1–24 for the defense.
- On March 29, 1989, the trial court convicted Ritter of rape with homicide, sentencing him to reclusion perpetua, ₱60,000 indemnity to heirs, and ₱10,000 attorneys’ fees.
- Ritter appealed to the Supreme Court, assigning errors regarding date and identity, victim’s age, and credibility of evidence.
Issue I: Victim’s Age
- Statutory rape hinges on victim being under 12 years old.
- Prosecution evidence on age:
- Oral declarations by Rosario’s grandmother and father placing birth on December 22, 1975.
- Hospital clinical record and death certificate indicating age 12.
- Testimony of social worker Fe Israel who was told Rosario was “12 years old.”
- Jessie’s statement that he was older than Rosario, implying she was under 12.
- Defense evidence on age:
- Baptismal certificate and parish register: birth on