GR 43137; (December, 1935) (Digest)
G.R. No. 43137 , December 5, 1935
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JOSE TAYABA, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
The accused, Jose Tayaba, a 17-year-old, entered the house of the offended party, a married woman, at night while she was alone and asleep. He went on top of her, and upon her waking, he threatened her with a knife to keep quiet, inflicting slight injuries and tearing her clothing as she resisted and shouted. A neighbor, Pedro Martinez, heard the cries, came to her rescue, and upon entering the house, saw the accused in his undergarments. The accused then hastily fled. The defense presented no evidence at trial. The Court of First Instance of Pangasinan convicted Tayaba of attempted rape and ordered his confinement in the Government reformatory until age 21, suspending proceedings in the meantime.
ISSUE
Whether the acts committed by the accused constitute attempted rape or merely the consummated crime of unjust vexation.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction for attempted rape. The Court held that the series of overt acts committed—entering the house at night, going on top of the victim, threatening her with a knife, and attempting to raise her dress—demonstrated a clear commencement of the commission of rape with constant intent to achieve that end. These acts logically led to the commission of rape but were not consummated due to the timely intervention of a neighbor, an extraneous cause independent of the accused’s will, and not due to his voluntary desistance. The Court distinguished attempted rape from unjust vexation, explaining that in unjust vexation, the acts themselves are the criminal end, whereas in attempted rape, the acts are means to a further criminal objective (ravishment) that was not attained. The accused’s silence when the victim told the neighbor he wanted to rape her further corroborated his intent. The facts were deemed similar to United States vs. Garcia, where analogous acts were held to constitute attempted rape.
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