PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, V. KIM OJANO Y CLAUSTRO, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

People versus Ojano

The Case

This is People versus Ojano, a criminal appeal that never reaches the merits. Kim Ojano was convicted of rape with homicide, and while his appeal was pending before the Supreme Court, he died in prison. The case matters because it forces the Court to apply the rule on total extinction of criminal liability by death, and to separate criminal liability from the civil liability that rests solely upon it. For a reviewee, this is the cleanest illustration of what happens to a judgment of conviction when the convict dies before final judgment.

Procedural History

Kim Ojano was charged before the Regional Trial Court, Branch 221 of Quezon City, with rape with homicide. After trial, the Regional Trial Court promulgated its decision on 18 July 2012, finding him guilty beyond reasonable doubt and sentencing him to reclusion perpetua, with an order to pay the heirs of the victim civil indemnity and damages. On 07 September 2012, he appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. While the appeal was pending, the Superintendent of the New Bilibid Prison wrote the Court on 25 August 2013, informing it that the accused had died on 14 July 2013 at the New Bilibid Prison Hospital, and attaching a certified true copy of the death certificate. The Court directed counsel for the accused to comment, required compliance a second time, and on 13 December 2013 the Public Attorney's Office filed its compliance. The Office of the Solicitor General filed a manifestation on 06 February 2014, and the Court resolved the appeal on that record.

Facts

The Information dated 31 May 2005 charged that on or about 27 May 2005, in Quezon City, the accused, by means of force and intimidation, had carnal knowledge of the victim against her will and without her consent, and that on the occasion of the rape he strangled her, causing her death by asphyxia by strangulation.

After trial, the Regional Trial Court convicted him of rape with homicide and imposed reclusion perpetua, together with civil indemnity and damages in favor of the victim's heirs. He appealed to the Supreme Court on 07 September 2012.

During the pendency of the appeal, the accused died. The prison superintendent reported that he died at about 2:20 in the afternoon on 14 July 2013, at the age of 35, at the New Bilibid Prison Hospital, and furnished the Court a certified true copy of the death certificate signed by the attending medical officer. The appeal was therefore resolved in light of that supervening event.

Issues

• Whether or not the death of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability.
• Whether or not the death of the accused pending appeal also extinguishes the civil liability imposed upon him, which was based solely on his criminal liability.

Applicable Provisions

Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code provides:

Article 89. How criminal liability is totally extinguished. – Criminal liability is totally extinguished: 1. By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability therefore is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment.

This is the provision the Court applies: death of the convict extinguishes the personal penalties, and extinguishes pecuniary liability when death comes before final judgment, which is exactly the posture of a pending appeal.

Ruling

On the first issue, the Court held that the death of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability. The Court anchored this on the first paragraph of Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code, which it quoted in full, and on the doctrine laid down in People versus Bayotas.

On the second issue, the Court held that the civil liability based solely on the criminal liability is likewise extinguished. As the Office of the Solicitor General pointed out in its manifestation, the death of the accused pending appeal extinguishes his criminal liability as well as the civil liability based solely thereon. The Court therefore dismissed the appeal because of the death of the accused, and declared the civil liability imposed upon him, based on his criminal liability, extinguished.

Doctrine

Three rules a Bar candidate should be able to write:

• Death of the convict before final judgment totally extinguishes criminal liability, as to the personal penalties, under Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code.
• Pecuniary penalties are extinguished only when death occurs before final judgment. A conviction pending appeal is not yet final, so death at that stage wipes out the pecuniary liability as well.
• Civil liability based solely on the criminal liability is extinguished with it. Following People versus Bayotas, the extinction of the criminal liability carries with it the civil liability that rests solely thereon.

Disposition

The Court noted the prison superintendent's letter and the death certificate, dismissed the appeal because of the death of the accused, and extinguished the civil liability imposed upon him based on his criminal liability.

Remember This

Memorize the line: death of the convict before final judgment extinguishes criminal liability and the civil liability based solely thereon. Examiners use this case to test the effect of the death of the accused pending appeal, and the distinction between civil liability ex delicto and civil liability arising from other sources.