GR 1018; (Febuary, 1903) (Digest)
G.R. No. 1018 , February 17, 1903
THE UNITED STATES, complainant-appellee, vs. IGNACIO CRUZ, defendant-appellant.
FACTS:
On the evening of March 30, 1902, the defendant Ignacio Cruz, along with two other members of the Insular Police, entered the house of Antonia Evangelista, a 17-year-old girl, who lived with her grandmother, Carmen Tayag. They claimed to be searching for the girl’s father, who was in Manila. The accused and his companions took the grandmother downstairs and tied her to a tree. They then went back upstairs where Antonia was alone. The three men successively ravished her, having stretched her on the floor and stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth to prevent her from crying for help. The crime was witnessed by the grandmother and a neighbor, Nicolasa Cruz, who saw the girl in the hands of two men and heard her cries for help. Another relative, Paula Cruz, attempted to intervene but was unsuccessful. The accused later claimed that the rape did not occur at the house but that the girl was taken to the barrio of Sucat and ravished there by other policemen.
ISSUE:
Whether the accused, Ignacio Cruz, is guilty of the crime of rape as defined and punished under Article 438 of the Penal Code.
RULING:
Yes, the accused is guilty of rape. The Court found the testimonies of the victim, her grandmother, and the neighbors to be credible and sufficient to establish the crime. The accused’s own statements, while attempting to shift blame to others, corroborated the fact that a rape occurred. The crime was committed with violence and intimidation, aggravated by the circumstance that it was committed in the dwelling of the injured party and without provocation (aggravating circumstance No. 20 of Article 10 of the Penal Code). No mitigating circumstances were present.
The Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s judgment and sentenced Ignacio Cruz to seventeen years, four months, and one day of imprisonment, with the corresponding accessory penalty of temporary absolute disqualification and subject to surveillance during and after his confinement. He was also ordered to pay an indemnity of 300 Mexican pesos to the injured party, to recognize and support any offspring, and to pay the costs. The Court further directed the judge to proceed according to law regarding five other enumerated crimes of rape found in the record.