Francisco Abarca found his wife and Kingsley Koh in an act of sexual intercourse. In a fit of rage, Abarca shot and killed Koh. He also injured Arnold and Lina Amparado who were in an adjacent room. The trial court convicted Abarca of murder but the Supreme Court ruled that Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code applies since Abarca discovered his wife in an act of adultery and killed the paramour immediately thereafter. While the time between the discovery and killing was about an hour, this did not prevent the application of Article 247. The Court modified the conviction to the penalty under Article 247 of mere banishment. Abarca was also
Francisco Abarca found his wife and Kingsley Koh in an act of sexual intercourse. In a fit of rage, Abarca shot and killed Koh. He also injured Arnold and Lina Amparado who were in an adjacent room. The trial court convicted Abarca of murder but the Supreme Court ruled that Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code applies since Abarca discovered his wife in an act of adultery and killed the paramour immediately thereafter. While the time between the discovery and killing was about an hour, this did not prevent the application of Article 247. The Court modified the conviction to the penalty under Article 247 of mere banishment. Abarca was also
Francisco Abarca found his wife and Kingsley Koh in an act of sexual intercourse. In a fit of rage, Abarca shot and killed Koh. He also injured Arnold and Lina Amparado who were in an adjacent room. The trial court convicted Abarca of murder but the Supreme Court ruled that Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code applies since Abarca discovered his wife in an act of adultery and killed the paramour immediately thereafter. While the time between the discovery and killing was about an hour, this did not prevent the application of Article 247. The Court modified the conviction to the penalty under Article 247 of mere banishment. Abarca was also
Francisco Abarca found his wife and Kingsley Koh in an act of sexual intercourse. In a fit of rage, Abarca shot and killed Koh. He also injured Arnold and Lina Amparado who were in an adjacent room. The trial court convicted Abarca of murder but the Supreme Court ruled that Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code applies since Abarca discovered his wife in an act of adultery and killed the paramour immediately thereafter. While the time between the discovery and killing was about an hour, this did not prevent the application of Article 247. The Court modified the conviction to the penalty under Article 247 of mere banishment. Abarca was also
Abarca No. L-74433 September 14, 1987 Plaintiff-appellee: PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES Accused-appellant: FRANCISCO ABARCA, Issue: Ponente: SARMIENTO, J. Whether or not in convicting the accused for the crime as charged instead of entering a judgment of conviction under article 247 of the revised penal code. The undersigned City Fiscal of the City of Tacloban accuses Francisco Abarca of the crime of Murder with Double Frustrated Murder. Whether or not the killing was attended by the qualifying circumstance of treachery.
Facts: Ruling: CAUGHT IN THE ACT Francisco Abarca arrived at his residence at the V & G Subdivision in Tacloban City at around DEATH INFLICTED UNDER EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES 6:00 o'clock in the afternoon. Elements of art. 247 being present, trial court erred in convicting accused-appellant of murder. Upon reaching home, Abarca found his wife, Jenny, and Khingsley Koh in the act of sexual The provision in art. 247 of the Revised Penal Code applies in the instant case. intercourse. When the wife and Koh noticed the accused, the wife pushed her paramour who got his revolver. The accused who was then peeping above the built-in cabinet in their room There is no question that the accused surprised his wife and her paramour, the victim in this jumped and ran away. case, in the act of illicit copulation, as a result of which, he went out to kill the deceased in a fit of passionate outburst. Abarca looked for a firearm and got an M-16 rifle from Arturo Talbo. He went back to his house at V&G Subdivision but his wife and Koh were not there. He then proceeded to the Article 247 prescribes the following elements: “"mahjong session" as it was the "hangout" of Kingsley Koh. 1. that a legally married person surprises his spouse in the act of committing sexual SHOT WESLEY KOH TO DEATH intercourse with another person; and The accused found Koh playing mahjong. He fired at Kingsley Koh three times with his rifle. 2. that he kills any of them or both of them in the act or immediately thereafter. Koh was hit. Arnold and Lina Amparado who were occupying a room adjacent to the room where Koh was playing mahjong were also hit by the shots fired by the accused. These elements are present in this case. The trial court, in convicting the accused-appellant of murder, therefore erred Kingsley Koh died instantaneously of cardiorespiratory arrest due to shock and hemorrhage as a result of multiple gunshot wounds on the head, trunk and abdomen. WHAT “IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER” MEANS
Arnold Amparado was hospitalized and operated on in the kidney to remove a bullet. His wife, Though quite a length of time, about one hour, had passed between the time the accused- Lina Amparado, was also treated in the hospital as she was hit by bullet fragments. appellant discovered his wife having sexual intercourse with the victim and the time the latter That the accused shall kill any of them or both of them immediately after surprising his spouse DEATH PENALTY in the act of intercourse does not say that he should commit the killing instantly thereafter. The trial court found Francisco Abarca guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the complex crime of murder with double frustrated murder as charged in the amended information, The Revised Penal Code does not say that he should commit the killing instantly thereafter. and pursuant to Art. 63 (Rules for the Application of Indivisible Penalties) of the Revised It only requires that the death caused be the proximate result of the outrage overwhelming Penal Code in relation to Art. 48 (Penalty for Complex Crimes), he is hereby sentenced to the accused after chancing upon his spouse in the basest act of infidelity. death, to indemnify the heirs of Khingsley Paul Koh in the sum of P30,000, complainant spouses Arnold and Lina Amparado in the sum of Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000), without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and to pay the costs. DIRECT BY-PRODUCT OF THE ACCUSED’S RAGE But the killing should have been actually motivated by the same blind impulse, and must not have been influenced by external factors. The killing must be the direct by-product of the accused's rage.
in case of death or serious physical injuries, considering the enormous provocation and his righteous indignation, the accused—who would otherwise be criminally liable for the crime of homicide, parricide, murder, or serious physical injury, as the case may be—is punished only with destierro. This penalty is mere banishment and, as held in a case, is intended more for the protection of the accused than a punishment.
Article 247, or the exceptional circumstances mentioned therein, amount to an exempting
circumstance, for even where death or serious physical injuries is inflicted, the penalty is so greatly lowered as to result to no punishment at all.
ART. 247 NOT PUNISHABLE, NO TREACHERY
It shall likewise be noted that inflicting death under exceptional circumstances, not being a punishable act, cannot be qualified by either aggravating or mitigating or other qualifying circumstances. We cannot accordingly appreciate treachery in this case.
ART. 365 LESS SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURIES THROUGH IMPRUDENCE OR
NEGLIGENCE The liability of Abarca for the physical injuries suffered by Lina Amparado and Arnold Amparado who were caught in the crossfire as he shot Mr. Koh is under the second paragraph, of Article 365, that is, less serious physical injuries through simple imprudence or negligence.
While it appears that before firing at the deceased, he uttered warning words ("an waray labot kagawas"), that is not enough a precaution to absolve him for the injuries sustained by the Amparados. The Court nonetheless find negligence on his part.
WHEREFORE, the decision appealed from is hereby MODIFIED.
The accused-appellant is sentenced to four months and 21 days to six months of arresto mayor. The period within which he has been in confinement shall be credited in the service of these penalties.
He is furthermore ordered to indemnify Arnold and Lina Amparado in the sum of
P16,000.00 as and for hospitalization expenses and the sum of P 1,500.00 as and for Arnold Amparado's loss of earning capacity.
No special pronouncement as to costs. IT IS SO ORDERED.
United States v. Harry Greenberg, Dominic Mattia, Nick Pannarella, Ernest Paul, Alfred Sireci, and Hirschel Weisbord, AKA Hirschel Washbord, Alfred Sireci, 419 F.2d 808, 3rd Cir. (1969)
