G.R. No. L‑5597
March 5, 1910
United States v. D. B. Jeffrey

FACTS
– On 1 March 1909, while Teodorica Saguinsin was in a Chinese shop in Guadalupe, San Pedro Makati, Rizal, D. B. Jeffrey struck her three times on the hip with a bottle he was carrying.
– The assault caused severe abdominal hemorrhage; the three‑month‑pregnant woman miscarried the following day, as certified by the municipal health officer.
– She was incapacitated for 45 days and required medical care.
– The provincial fiscal charged Jeffrey with lesiones menos graves before the Court of First Instance (CFI). The CFI sentenced him to 45 days arresto mayor, a fine of ₱325, indemnity of ₱50, and costs.
– Jeffrey appealed, contending lack of intent to cause abortion and disputing the conviction for a crime different from the one charged.

ISSUE
Whether a conviction for lesiones menos graves may be substituted with a conviction for the crime of abortion (Art. 411 Penal Code) and whether the appellate court may impose the penalty for abortion despite the original charge.

RULING
– The Supreme Court held that the factual evidence established that Jeffrey’s unlawful assault directly caused the miscarriage; thus the consummated offense was abortion, not merely lesiones.
– The complaint, though framed as lesiones, expressly narrated the assault and the consequent miscarriage, thereby informing the accused of the true nature of the charge.
– Absence of specific intent to abort does not exonerate liability; under Art. 411, the offender is responsible for the natural and foreseeable consequences of his unlawful act.
– Consequently, the trial‑court judgment was set aside. Jeffrey was sentenced to eight (8) months of prisión correccional (minimum degree, given mitigating circumstance of drunkenness without habitual abuse), ordered to pay ₱50 indemnity to the victim, subsidiary imprisonment if insolvent, and to bear the costs of both instances.

The decision was rendered en banc, with the concurrence of Justices Arellano, Mapa, Johnson, Carson, and Moreland.