COMPLEX CRIMES

Art. 48. Penalty for complex crimes. — When a single act constitutes two or more grave or
less grave felonies, or when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other, the
penalty for the most serious crime shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its maximum
period.

 The 2 or more grave or less grave felonies must be the result of a single act, or an offense
must be a necessary means to commit the crime.

 Complex crime – one crime only as there is only one criminal intent – only one
information need be filed.

 2 kinds of complex crimes:

a. compound crime – single act constitutes 2 or more grave or less grave felonies

 Requisites
1. that only one single act is committed by the offender
2. that the single act produces
a. 2 or more grave felonies
b. one or more grave and one or more less grave felonies
c. 2 or more less grave felonies
 
b. complex crime proper – when an offense is a necessary means for committing
another
 Requisites:
1. that at least 2 offenses are committed
2. that one or some of the offenses must be necessary to commit the other
3. that both or all the offenses must be punished under the same statute

 No single act in the following cases:

a. When 2 persons are killed one after the other, by different acts, although these 2
killings were the result of a single criminal impulse, the different acts must be
considered as distinct crimes.

b. When the acts are wholly different, not only in themselves, but also because they
are directed against 2 different persons, as when one fires his gun twice in
succession, killing one and injuring the other.

 Light felonies produced by the same act should be treated and punished as separate
offenses or may be absorbed by the grave felony.

 Examples:
a. several light felonies resulting from one single act – not complex

 Juan hit Pedro’s car, resulting in several light injuries and light felony of damage
to property. No complex crime because the crime of slight physical injuries and
damage to property are light felonies. There are as many crimes as there are
 persons injured w/ light physical injuries and as many penalties as there are light
felonies committed, even though they are produced by a single act of the
offender.

b. when the crime is committed by force or violence, slight physical injuries are
absorbed.

 Examples of complex crimes:

a. Juan was a barangay captain who was killed while discharging his duty, the crime
is a complex crime of homicide w/ assault upon a person of authority.
b. Juan raped Petra, causing her physical injuries w/c required a month’s worth of
medical attention. This is a complex crime of rape w/ less serious physical
injuries. The injuries were necessary to the commission of the rape.

 when in obedience to an order, several accused simultaneously shot many persons,

without evidence how many each killed, there is only a single offense, there being a single
criminal impulse.

 when various acts are executed for the attainment of a single purpose w/c constitutes an
offense, such acts must be considered only as one offense.
Example: Juan falsified 100 warehouse receipts from April to June which enabled him to
swindle the bank of 100 million. There’s only one complex crime of estafa through
multiple falsification of documents.

 There is no complex crime of arson w/ homicide

 Art 48 is applicable to crimes through negligence

Example: Juan lit a cigarette as he poured gas in the tank of his car in his garage. The gas
caught fire and the house burned. His sister died and the maid suffered serious physical
injuries. The crimes of arson, homicide, serious physical injuries and damage to property
constitute a complex crime. There is only one penalty but there are 3 civil liabilities.

 No complex crime when one of the offenses is penalized by a special law

 Example of complex crime proper (at least 2 crimes must be committed):

Kidnapping the victim to murder him in a secluded place – ransom wasn’t paid so victim
was killed. Kidnapping was a necessary means to commit murder. But where the victim
was taken from his home for the sole purpose of killing him and not for detaining him
illegally or for the purpose of ransom, the crime is simple murder.

 “Necessary means” does not mean “indispensable means”. Indispensable would mean it is
an element of the crime. The crime can be committed by another mean. The means
actually employed (another crime) was merely to facilitate and insure the consummation
of the crime.

 When in the definition of a felony, one offense is a means to commit the other, there is no
complex crime.
 Example: Murder committed by means of fire. Murder can be qualified by the
circumstance of fire so no complex crime even if Art 321 and 324 punishes arson. It’s
plain and simple murder.

 Not complex crime when trespass to dwelling is a direct means to commit a grave
offense. Like rape, there is no complex crime of trespass to dwelling with rape. Trespass
will be considered as aggravating (unlawful entry or breaking part of a dwelling)

 No complex crime when one offense is committed to conceal another

 Example: Juan set the school on fire after committing homicide. 2 crimes.

 When the offender had in his possession the funds w/c he misappropriated, the
falsification of a public or official document involving said funds is a separate offense. But
when the offender had to falsify a public or official document to obtain possession of the
funds w/c he misappropriated, the falsification is a necessary means to commit the
malversation.

 There is no complex crime of rebellion with murder, arson, robbery or other common
crimes. They are mere ingredients of the crime of rebellion – absorbed already.

 When 2 crimes produced by a single act are respectively within the exclusive jurisdiction
of 2 courts of different jurisdiction, the court of higher jurisdiction shall try the complex
crime.

Example: Although the forcible abduction which was supposedly commenced in Manila
was not proven, and although the rape which was proven was actually committed in
Cavite, still the RTC of Manila had jurisdiction to convict the accused of rape. The
complex crime of forcible abduction with rape was changed in the complaint on the basis
of which the case was tried.

 Art. 48 is intended to favor the culprit.

 The penalty for complex crime is the penalty for the most serious crime, the same to be
applied in its maximum period. If the different crimes resulting from one single act are
punished with the same penalty, the penalty for any one of them shall be imposed, the
same to be applied in the maximum period. The same rule shall be observed when an
offense is a necessary means to commit the other.

 A complex crime of the second form may be committed by two persons.

 But when one of the offenses, as a means to commit the other, was committed by one of
the accused by reckless imprudence, the accused who committed the crime by reckless
imprudence is liable for his acts only.

 Example: Juan cooperated in the commission of the complex offense of estafa through
falsification by reckless imprudence by acts without which it could not have been
accomplished, and this being a fact, there would be no reason to exculpate him from
liability. Even assuming he had no intention to defraud Tomas if his co-defendants
 succeeded in attaining the purpose sought by the culprits, Juan’s participation together w/
the participation of his co-defendants in the commission of the offense completed all the
elements necessary for the perpetration of the complex crime of estafa
through falsification of documents.

 When two felonies constituting a complex crime are punishable by imprisonment and fine,
respectively, only the penalty of imprisonment shall be imposed.

 When a single act constitutes two grave or less grave or one grave and another less grave,
and the penalty for one is imprisonment while that for the other is fine, the severity of the
penalty for the more serious crime should not be judged by the classification of each of the
penalties involved, but by the nature of the penalties.

 Example: Even if the fine for damage to property through reckless imprudence is P40,000,
an afflictive penalty, and the penalty for the physical injuries resulting from the same act
is only 4 mos of arresto mayor, a correccional penalty may be imposed.

 In the order of severity of the penalties, arresto mayor and arresto menor are considered
more severe than destierro and arresto menor is higher in degree than destierro
 Fine is not included in the list of penalties in the order of severity and it is the last in the
order.

 Art 48 applies only to cases where the Code doesn’t provide a specific penalty for a
complex crime.

 Art 48 doesn’t apply when the law provides one single penalty for single complex crimes
like the ff:

a. robbery w/ homicide
b. robbery w/ rape
c. kidnapping w/ serious physical injuries
d. rape w/ homicide

 When a complex crime is charged and one offense is not proven, the accused can be
convicted of the other.

 Plurality of crimes – consists in the successive execution by the same individual of

different criminal acts upon any of w/c no conviction has yet been declared.

 Kinds of plurality of crimes:

a. formal or ideal – only one criminal liability
b. real or material – there are different crimes in law as well as in the conscience of
the offender, in such cases, the offender shall be punished for each and every
offense that he committed.
Example: Juan stabbed Pedro, then Juan stabbed Tomas too. There are 2
committed as 2 acts were performed.

PLURALITY OF CRIMES RECIDIVISM

 There must be conviction by final judgment
No conviction of the crimes committed of the first prior offense

 Formal/ideal plural crimes are divided into 3 groups: (a person committing multiple
crimes is punished w/ one penalty in the ff cases)

a. when the offender commits any of the complex crimes defined in art. 48
b. when the law specifically fixes a single penalty for 2 or more offenses
committed: robbery w/ homicide, kidnapping w/ serious physical injuries
c. when the offender commits continued crimes

 Continued crimes – refers to a single crime consisting of a series of acts but all arising
from one criminal resolution. Although there is a series of acts, there is only one crime
committed, so only one penalty shall be imposed.

 Examples of continued crimes:

a. a collector of a commercial firm misappropriates for his personal use several

amounts collected by him from different persons. There is only one crime
because the different and successive appropriations are but the different moments
during which one criminal resolution arises.

b. Juan stole 2 books belonging to 2 different persons. He commits only one crime
because there is unity of thought in the criminal purpose of the offender.

 A continued crime is not a complex crime as offender does not perform a single act but a
series of acts. Therefore:
a. penalty not to be imposed in the maximum
b. no actual provision punishing a continued crime – it’s a principle applied in
connection w/ 2 or more crimes committed w/ a single intention.

 Continued crime is different from a transitory crime.  Transitory crime is “moving crime”.

 Example: kidnapping someone for ransom and moving him to another venue. The
offenders can be prosecuted and tried in either of the 2 areas.

REAL/MATERAIAL PLURALITY CONTINUED CRIME

There is a series of acts performed by the

offender Same

Each act performed constitutes a separate Different acts constitute only one crime
crime because each act is generated by a because all of the acts performed arise
criminal impulse from one criminal resolution.
 
Art. 49. Penalty to be imposed upon the principals when the crime committed is different
from that intended. — In cases in which the felony committed is different from that which
the offender intended to commit, the following rules shall be observed:

1. If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be higher than that
corresponding to the offense which the accused intended to commit, the penalty
corresponding to the latter shall be imposed in its maximum period.
2. If the penalty prescribed for the felony committed be lower than that corresponding
to the one which the accused intended to commit, the penalty for the former shall be
imposed in its maximum period.
3. The rule established by the next preceding paragraph shall not be applicable if the
acts committed by the guilty person shall also constitute an attempt or frustration of
another crime, if the law prescribes a higher penalty for either of the latter offenses,
in which case the penalty provided for the attempted or the frustrated crime shall be
imposed in its maximum period.

 Art 49 has reference to the provision in the 1 st par of Art 4 which provides that criminal
liability shall be incurred “by any person committing a felony although the wrongful act
done be different from that which he intended”

 Art 49 applicable only in cases when there is a mistake in identity of the victim of the
crime and the penalty for the crime committed is different from that for the crime intended
to be committed.

 Art 49 also has no application where a more serious consequence not intended by the
offender befalls the same person.

 Example: Juan only wanted to inflict a wound upon Pedro but because he lost control of
his right arm, he killed Pedro. Art 49 not applicable.

ART 49 ART 48

Lesser penalty to be imposed in its Penalty for the more serious crime shall be
maximum pd imposed in its maximum pd

Notes:

1. Art. 49 has reference to Art. 4(1). It applies only when there is error in personae.

2. In Art. 49 (Paragraphs 1 and 2) the lower penalty in its maximum period is always
imposed.
 3. In Par. 3 the penalty for the attempted or frustrated crime shall be imposed in its
maximum period. This rule is not necessary and may well be covered by Art. 48, in view
of the fact that the same act also constitutes an attempt or a frustration of another crime.
 

Art. 50. Penalty to be imposed upon principals of a frustrated

crime. — The penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed by law for the
consummated felony shall be imposed upon the principal in a frustrated felony.