11 - People V Ceredon

PEOPLE v CEREDON ISSUE/S:
Whether or not the trial court gravely erred in finding accused-

FACTS: appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt based on an
On September 18th, 2000, victim AAA revealed to DDD (her improvident plea of guilty?
sister), Giselle (friend), and Teresa (teacher) that she was raped
by her brother, the appellant, Elmer Ceredon. Together, they Assuming arguendo that there was no improvident plea of
went to the barangay captain who told them to report to the guilty, whether or not the trial court erred in convicting accused-
police. appellant considering that said Informations failed to
sufficiently establish the dates of the crimes with particularity?
Policemen were dispatched and brought the appellant to the
station. Assuming arguendo that there was no improvident plea of
guilty, whether or not the trial court gravely erred in imposing
The victim accused the appellant of raping her 10 times during the death penalty upon the accused-appellant?
the second confrontation. The appellant then admitted that he
raped his sister 10 ties and asked for forgiveness. The victim, Assuming further that the prosecution has sufficiently
however, could no longer forgive him as her heart has hardened established the dates of the crimes, whether or not the trial court
like stone. erred in imposing the death penalty as the qualifying
circumstance that the accused is her brother was not properly
The appellant was indicted for 10 counts of rape (1995 x5, 1996 alleged?
x2, 1998 x2, 2000 x1).
RULING:
The trial court convicted appellant on all ten counts of rape, The rule where the accused desires to plead guilty to a capital
sentencing him to suffer the death penalty in each of the 10 offense, the court is to observe the following: it must make
criminal Informations. investigate the voluntariness and full comprehension of the
consequences of the accused’s plea, they must require the
Appellant contends that the Informations against him do not prosecution to present evidence to prove the guilt, and the court
sufficiently charge the offenses committed because the exact must ask the accused if he would want to present evidence on
dates were not alleged. He added that he was convicted by his his behalf. Since there is no concrete rule on how a trial judge
plea of guilty. may go about the matter of a proper “searching inquiry”
regarding the rule above, it is incumbent upon a trial judge to
determine and be convinced that the plea of the guilty was
voluntarily made and its consequences were fully comprehended
by the accused.
However, appellant was not convicted because of his plea of course of the trial, especially his arraignment. However, he
guilty, but on the strength of the prosecution’s evidence. The chose to remain silent and never lifted a finger to question the
trial court relied on sufficient and credible evidence to convict Information. He is deemed to have waived whatever objections
the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Convictions based on he had and now cannot seek affirmative relief. Furthermore,
pleas of guilt to capital offenses have been set aside because of objections to the Information’s form cannot be made for the first
their improvidence. This is also the case when such plea is the time on appeal.
only basis for a judgment.
The trial court explained that the victim was only 10 years old in
1995 and 11 in 1996. It was natural for her not to remember the
dates, especially when they were horrifying and negative times.
The date or time of rape need not be alleged with precision. It is

enough for the Information/Complaint to state that the crime was
done at a near possible time. Failure to allege the exact date does
not render the Information defective, much less void.
An Information is valid if it distinctly states the elements of the

offense and the constitutive acts or omissions. The exact date is
not an essential element of it.
Thus, in rape, the material fact or circumstance to be considered

is the occurrence of the rape, not the time. The date or time is
not a material ingredient, because the gravamen of the crime is
carnal knowledge of a woman through force and
intimidation. Since the precise time has no substantial bearing
on its commission, the date or time need not be stated with
absolute accuracy. It is sufficient that the complaint or
information states tha the crime as been committed at any time
as near as possible to the date of its actual commission.
It was already too late for appellant to question the sufficiency

of the Information. He had all the time to raise this during the

11 - People V Ceredon

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

11 - People V Ceredon

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

11 - People V Ceredon

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PEOPLE v CEREDON ISSUE/S:

Whether or not the trial court gravely erred in finding accused-

The date or time of rape need not be alleged with precision. It is

An Information is valid if it distinctly states the elements of the

Thus, in rape, the material fact or circumstance to be considered

It was already too late for appellant to question the sufficiency

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.