FIRST
DIVISION
THE
UNITED STATES,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
G.
R.
No. 5597
March
5, 1910
-versus-
D. B.
JEFFREY,
Defendant-Appellant.
D
E C I S I
O N
TORRES,
J:
On the evening of March
1, 1909, while Teodorica Saguinsin was in a Chinese shop situated in
Guadalupe,
Municipality of San Pedro, Macati, Rizal Province, a man named D. B.
Jeffrey
appeared therein, and, without any apparent reason whatever, struck the
woman three times on the hip with a bottle that he was carrying, in
consequence
of which the woman fell to the ground with an abundant hemorrhage from
the womb; she was immediately taken to her home in a carretela, and
being
three months pregnant she had a miscarriage on the following day,
according
to the examination made by the president of the municipal board of
health.
The woman was ill and unable to attend to her usual duties for
forty-five
days.
Therefore, a Complaint
was filed by the Provincial Fiscal with the Court of First Instance of
said province on the 5th of June 1909, charging D. B. Jeffrey with the
crime of lesiones menos graves, whereupon these proceedings
were
instituted. The trial court sentenced the accused, on the 19th of
August
1909, to the penalty of forty-five days of arresto mayor, to
pay
a fine of 325 pesetas, to indemnify the injured woman in the sum of
P50,
and, in case of insolvency in the payment of the fine and the
indemnity,
to suffer the corresponding subsidiary imprisonment, not, however, to
exceed
one-third of the main penalty, and to pay the costs. From this judgment
defendant's counsel has appealed.
From the facts above
related it is clearly shown that the crime of abortion, defined and
punished
by Article 411 of the Penal Code, has been committed, inasmuch as, in
consequence
of the maltreatment received, on the evening of March 1, 1909 by
Teodorica
Saguinsin, a married woman who for three months had been pregnant, she
fell to the ground, and had a severe hemorrhage and, being unable to
return
to her home, was taken there in a vehicle, with the assistance of
Basilisa
Pascual, who witnessed the occurrence. On the following day, she had a
miscarriage, as certified by the president of the Municipal Board of
Health
of the town of San Pedro Macati who made an examination of and attended
the victim of the maltreatment.
The defendant pleaded
not guilty and denied the charge made in the case, although he admitted
that on the night in question he had a dispute with the injured woman
because
he collided with her a little push with the index finger of the right
hand
in the back of her body, but without illtreating her, even though he
carried
a bottle at the time. The foregoing statements to a certain extent
confirm
the charge that the woman was maltreated or struck three times upon the
hips by the accused with the bottle that he was carrying, which fact is
corroborated by the testimony of the witness. The testimony of the
military
surgeon, Raymond F. Metcalf, who, seven days thereafter, examined the
injured
woman and stated that he did not discover upon her body any sings of
abortion,
has not affected the preponderance of the evidence offered by the
prosecution,
inasmuch as, after the lapse of seven days, the miscarriage having
occurred
the day following the night when the woman was brutally struck upon the
hips with a bottle, it is not strange that he did not find any traces
of
the hemorrhage or of the miscarriage, as seen by the physician who
examined
and attended the maltreated woman and certified to the fact of the
abortion.
Even though it was
not the criminal intent of the defendant to cause the abortion, the
fact
that, without any apparent reason whatever, he maltreated Teodorica
Saguinsin,
presumably not knowing that she was pregnant, as author of the abuse
which
caused the miscarriage, he is liable not only for such maltreatment but
also for the consequences thereof, to wit, for the abortion; and it was
also proven that on the said occasion the defendant was drunk, which
circumstance
explains how he came to strike the woman with a bottle without any
known
motive. It does not appear that he is an habitual drunkard. The penalty
of prision correccional as fixed by the aforesaid article should be
imposed
upon him in the minimum degree, owing to presence of circumstance 6 of
Article 9 of the Penal Code, there being no aggravating circumstance to
counteract its effect.
With respect to the
question as to whether or not D. B. Jeffrey, having been accused of the
crime of lesiones menos graves, can be lawfully sentenced for
the
crime of abortion, one which is distinct from that of lesiones,
it is proper to consider that the complaint filed by the fiscal reads:
"The undersigned
fiscal
of the Province of Rizal, P. I., hereby charges D. B. Jeffrey with the
crime of lesiones menos graves committed as follows:
"In that on the 1st
day of March, 1909, in the municipality of San Pedro Macati, Province
of
Rizal, P. I., the said D. B. Jeffrey, the accused herein, wilfully,
unlawfully,
and feloniously assaulted Teordorica Saguinsin, maltreating and
striking
her about the hips which resulted in a serious hemorrhage followed by a
miscarriage; the patient required medical attendance for more than
eight
days, and was unable to work for an equal period of time. All contrary
to law."
The accused, attended by
counsel, appeared before the Court of First Instance of Rizal, and the
foregoing complaint was read to him and translated into English by the
Clerk of the Court. Upon being asked by the Court to plead thereto, he
pleaded not guilty.
Hence,
when the
defendant
was informed of the Complaint, he at once understood that, although he
was charged with the crime of lesiones menos graves, the charge also
included
the fact that he had maltreated Teodorica Saguinsin, striking her about
the hips, in consequence of which she had a hemorrhage which was
followed
by a miscarriage; the woman was confined and disabled for work during
eight
days and was attended by a physician. Not a single fact constituting
the
crime of lesiones is alleged in the complaint, and there can be
no question that, because of the translation into English, the accused
must have heard and known that the charge against him was that he had
struck
and maltreated the injured woman who, as a result of his unlawful act,
suffered an abundant hemorrhage and a subsequent miscarriage. For this
reason, when the defendant denied the charge and plead not guilty, he
defended
himself against the charge which consisted in that, in consequence of
having
struck her with a bottle, he caused the abortion; and inasmuch as the
maltreatment
and the miscarriage that followed in consequence thereof have been
proved,
it is perfectly just and legal that the penalty to be applied shall be
that fixed by the law of the crime shown by the evidence and which the
accused actually committed.
For the reason above
set forth, and holding that the crime committed is that of abortion and
not that of lesiones, it is our opinion that the judgment appealed from
should be set aside, and that the accused should be and he is hereby
sentenced
to the penalty of eight months of prision correccional, to
indemnify
the injured woman in the sum of P50, with subsidiary imprisonment in
case
of insolvency, and to pay the costs of both instances. So ordered.
Arellano, C.J.,
Mapa, Johnson, Carson and Moreland, JJ., concur. |