Title
People vs Jeffrey
Case
G.R. No. 5597
Decision Date
Mar 5, 1910
D.B. Jeffrey struck Teodorica Saguinsin, causing her miscarriage. Convicted of abortion despite initial *lesiones menos graves* charge, he received eight months’ imprisonment and indemnity.

Case Summary (G.R. No. 5597)

Key Procedural Dates and Posture

Relevant factual and procedural dates included: the assault occurred on the evening of March 1, 1909; complaint filed June 5, 1909; trial court rendered sentence on August 19, 1909. The defendant appealed from the trial court judgment to the appellate court which issued the decision summarized here. The decision addressed whether the evidence established the crime of abortion rather than merely lesiones menos graves and whether conviction and sentencing for abortion was proper.

Facts Found by the Trial Court and Appellate Court

On March 1, 1909, D. B. Jeffrey entered a shop where Teodorica Saguinsin was present and struck her three times on the hip with a bottle he carried. The blows caused an abundant uterine hemorrhage; she was taken home and suffered a miscarriage the following day, as certified by the municipal board of health official who examined and attended her. She was incapacitated and unable to work for approximately forty-five days (trial court found medical incapacity for forty-five days; the complaint alleged eight days). The defendant admitted an encounter and said he gave a slight push with his index finger, denied ill-treatment, but acknowledged carrying a bottle. Witness testimony corroborated that she was struck with the bottle. A military surgeon who examined her seven days later reported no signs of abortion, but the court accepted the contemporaneous medical certification of miscarriage and the testimony of the attending municipal health officer as controlling.

Charges, Plea, and Trial Court Disposition

The provincial fiscal charged Jeffrey with lesiones menos graves (less serious physical injuries). The complaint, however, expressly described that the defendant struck the victim about the hips causing a serious hemorrhage followed by miscarriage. Jeffrey pleaded not guilty and was tried. The trial court convicted him and imposed a sentence of forty-five days of arresto mayor, a fine of 325 pesetas, indemnity of P50 to the injured woman, subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency (not to exceed one-third of the main penalty), and costs. Jeffrey appealed.

Legal Issue Presented

The primary legal question addressed by the appellate court was whether, given the facts proved at trial and the language of the complaint, the defendant could be lawfully convicted and sentenced for the crime of abortion (as defined in article 411 of the Penal Code) when the formal charge was framed as lesiones menos graves, and, if so, what penalty should be imposed.

Court’s Analysis on the Nature of the Offense and Proof

The court examined the proven facts against the elements of the offense of abortion as contained in article 411 of the Penal Code and concluded that the evidence established that the defendant’s conduct caused the miscarriage. The court treated the physical maltreatment with a bottle, the subsequent abundant hemorrhage, and the certified miscarriage as a causal chain satisfying the necessary factual elements for abortion. The court discounted the military surgeon’s later examination as not undermining the immediate and contemporaneous evidence of hemorrhage and miscarriage, noting that an examination seven days later could reasonably fail to detect signs that were plainly present the day after the assault.

Causation and Mens Rea Considerations

The court accepted that Jeffrey did not intend to cause an abortion and apparently did not know the victim was pregnant; it also accepted his intoxication on the occasion as evidenced at trial. Nonetheless, the court applied the principle that where an actor unlawfully maltreats another and the maltreatment causes a miscarriage, the actor is liable for the consequences of his act, even if the specific intent to produce those consequences is absent. The court therefore treated the absence of deliberate intent to abort as not exculpatory for criminal liability for the abortion that actually occurred as a consequence of the unlawful assault.

Sentencing and Mitigation

Given the established offense of abortion, the court concluded that the appropriate penalty was that prescribed by article 411 (prision correccional). The presence of circumstance 6 of article 9 of the Penal Code (a mitigating circumstance as found by the court) warranted imposition of the penalty in its minimum degree. There were no aggravating circumstances found to offset the mitigating circumstance. Accordingly, the appellate court set aside the trial court’s judgment and imposed a sentence of eight months of prision correccional, ordered indemnity of P50 to the victim (with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency), and costs for both instances.

Procedural Due Process and Plea Considerations Regarding a Different Offense

The court addressed whether it was lawful to convict and sentence for abortion when the complaint formally charged lesiones menos graves. It emphasized that the complaint, as read and translated to the defendant at arraignment, explicitly described the assault and the resultant hemorrhage and miscarriage. The defendant pleaded not guilty after being informed of the complaint that included the miscarriage as a consequence of the assault; thus he was on notice of and had the opportunity to defend against that factual charge. The court reasoned that because the defendant was informed

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