GR L 11128 33; (December, 1957) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-11128-33, December 23, 1957
People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, vs. Rene Escares, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
On September 13, 1950, six separate informations for robbery were filed against Salvador Poblador, Armando Gustillo, and Rene Escares. The cases were jointly tried against Poblador and Gustillo on March 2, 1951, as Escares was still at large. On April 21, 1954, Rene Escares was arraigned and initially pleaded not guilty to all six charges. He later asked permission to withdraw his plea of not guilty and substitute it with a plea of guilty, which the trial court granted. The court then rendered a decision finding him guilty in all cases and, applying Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code, sentenced him to a single penalty of twelve (12) years, six (6) months, and one (1) day for all the cases, with accessories and costs. Escares appealed, and the Court of Appeals certified the case to the Supreme Court as it involved only a question of law.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred in imposing the penalty on the appellant.
RULING
Yes, the trial court erred. The Supreme Court modified the penalty. The imposable penalty for each robbery charge under Article 294(5) of the Revised Penal Code is prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its medium period. With the mitigating circumstance of a plea of guilty (unoffset by any aggravating circumstance), the penalty should be applied in its minimum period, or from 4 years, 2 months, and 1 day to 6 years, 1 month, and 10 days for each crime. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the appellant should be sentenced in each of the six cases to an indeterminate penalty, the minimum of which is within the range of arresto mayor (4 months and 1 day to 4 years and 2 months) and the maximum within the range of prision correccional (4 years, 2 months, and 1 day) to prision mayor (6 years, 1 month, and 10 days). The trial court incorrectly applied the three-fold rule under Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code during the imposition of the penalty, as this rule pertains to the service of the sentence, not its imposition. The modified penalty for each case is an indeterminate sentence of not less than 4 months and 1 day of arresto mayor and not more than 4 years, 2 months, and 1 day of prision correccional, plus accessory penalties. These penalties are to be served subject to the limitations in Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code. The decision was affirmed as modified.