GR L 15140; (December, 1960) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-15140, December 29, 1960
People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, vs. Juan del Rosario, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
Defendant Juan del Rosario, a policeman, was charged with “maltreatment of a detention prisoner” for acts committed on or about March 28, 1957, in Naguilian, La Union. The information alleged that he confined Emilio Sy in the municipal jail and, to extort a confession, willfully maltreated Sy by giving him fist blows, kicking him, and pulling his hair, causing injuries requiring three to four days of medical treatment. After trial, the lower court found the defendant guilty of mauling Sy and inflicting the injuries. However, it did not convict him of the charged offense due to a lack of showing that Sy was a prisoner under his charge. Instead, the court convicted him of the lesser offense of slight physical injuries under Article 266, paragraph 2, of the Revised Penal Code and sentenced him to 15 days of arresto menor. The defendant appealed directly to the Supreme Court.
ISSUE
Whether the crime of slight physical injuries, a light offense, has already prescribed because the information was filed in court more than two months after its commission, beyond the prescriptive period for light offenses.
RULING
Yes, the crime has prescribed. Under Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code, light offenses prescribe in two months. Article 91 provides that the prescriptive period commences from the day the crime is discovered and is interrupted by the filing of the complaint or information. The Supreme Court, citing People vs. Tayco (73 Phil., 509), ruled that the complaint or information which interrupts the running of the prescriptive period is the one filed in the proper court, not an accusation lodged with the Fiscal’s Office for preliminary investigation. In this case, it was admitted that the information in court was filed more than two months after the commission and discovery of the offense. Therefore, the defendant could no longer be held liable. The sentence appealed from was reversed, and the case was dismissed.