G.R. No. L-8273; August 14, 1913
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. BASILIO TICSON, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

Early in the morning of October 6, 1911, while Braulio Calang was absent and his wife Epifania Cupo was asleep with her child, the defendant Basilio Ticson entered their house in Surigao by cutting the fastening of the door. He approached Epifania and raised her skirt. She awoke, resisted, and raised a disturbance, awakening Sinforoso Dinulus, her brother-in-law who was sleeping in the house at her husband’s request. Both Epifania and Sinforoso pursued and recognized the defendant under the bright moonlight but failed to catch him. Braulio Calang reported the incident to the justice of the peace upon his return. During the preliminary investigation, the defendant confessed his guilt and begged for pardon, which was refused. The provincial fiscal filed a complaint charging Ticson with the crime of forcible entry of a dwelling. The trial court convicted him and sentenced him to two months and one day of arresto mayor and a fine. The defendant appealed.

ISSUE

Whether the defendant is guilty of the crime of forcible entry of a dwelling under Article 491 of the Penal Code.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty. The defendant’s act of cutting the door fastening to enter the house against the will of its inhabitants constituted forcible entry with violence under paragraph 2 of Article 491 of the Penal Code. The Court found the evidence conclusive, noting the defendant’s criminal intent to lie with the offended party, which was frustrated only by her resistance. No extenuating or aggravating circumstances attended the crime. The penalty prescribed is prision correccional in its medium and maximum degrees and a fine. Applying the penalty in its medium degree, the Supreme Court sentenced Basilio Ticson to three years, six months, and twenty-one days of prision correccional, a fine of 1,000 pesetas, with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and the costs.