G.R. No. L-7124, March 25, 1912
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MARIA ASUNCION, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

Carlos de Lalinde, the husband of Maria Asuncion, filed a complaint accusing her of adultery. The complaint alleged that between October 23 and 27, 1910, in Manila, Maria Asuncion willfully and criminally lived with R.L. Larson, who was not her husband. It specifically stated that Larson lay with her “not knowing that she was a married woman.” Maria Asuncion demurred to the complaint, arguing it was fatally defective under Article 434 of the Penal Code because it did not include her paramour (Larson) as a co-defendant. The trial court overruled the demurrer, convicted Maria Asuncion of adultery, and sentenced her to prision correccional. The defense and prosecution agreed to present only minimal evidence to prove the facts charged, focusing the appeal on the legal issue raised by the demurrer.

ISSUE

Whether a complaint for adultery filed by the injured husband is fatally defective if it fails to include the wife’s paramour as a co-defendant, even when the complaint alleges that the paramour was unaware the woman was married.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction and dismissed the complaint.
Article 434 of the Penal Code provides that the injured husband cannot institute a prosecution for adultery without including both guilty parties if both are alive. The Court held that this requirement applies regardless of whether the paramour knew the woman was married. The husband cannot unilaterally determine the paramour’s guilt or innocence by omitting him from the complaint or alleging his lack of knowledge. To rule otherwise would allow the husband to condone the paramour’s offense while securing the wife’s conviction. The question of the paramour’s guilty knowledge is for the court to decide after both are included in the complaint. Since the husband’s complaint did not include the paramour, it was fatally defective, and the trial court lacked jurisdiction. The demurrer should have been sustained.