Guilty by inducement

A person may be liable for a crime committed even if he did not take a direct part in the execution of the criminal act. This is illustrated in this case of Rody.

Rody is one of scions of a well-to-do family in a city located at the Visayas. Working for the family as house maids are Rina, a 14-year-old girl from the province, naïve and innocent to the ways of the world, and her cousin Elsa. Also working for the family as helper is Lando.

One afternoon at about 3 p.m. Rody ordered Lando to pull Rina inside the women’s quarters. Lando thus dragged Rina inside the room and once inside Rody closed the door and pushed her to the wooden bed. Then at the point of a white colored pistol, Rody told Lando and Rina to do perverted and ignominious sexual acts. Rina felt dizzy and shouted for help twice to no avail. Thereafter, he ordered Lando to rape Rina. At first Lando refused to heed Rody’s order, telling the latter he has also a sister who may suffer the same fate. But when Rody threatened that he would kill both of them if they will not obey, Lando had to rape Rina three times in three different degrading and disgraceful positions with Rody pointing the handgun at them the whole time. At this stage, Rina already shouted for help. Thus somebody knocked on the door and they heard the voice of Nita, the older sister of Rody. But Rody ignored Nita and kept on pointing the pistol at  Rina and Lando, as he looked at them with wide-open eyes. Shortly, Rody told them to go to the boys room. The two tearfully complied with his order while Rody followed them laughing all the while. Then he warned them not to tell the police or he will kill their mothers.

At about 6 pm in the evening of the same day, Rina and Elsa sought permission to go home. On their way home, they met an old man who saw Rina crying. The old man took them into his house where Rina told him her ordeal. Thus the old man accompanied them to the police station where Rina gave her sworn statement on the incident, the police arrested Lando who was identified by Rina as the one who raped her on orders of Rody. The police also looked for Rody to shed light on the reported rape. But they could not locate him.

Eventually, Rody and Lando were charged before the Regional Trial Court with the crime of rape for conniving and confederating together and mutually helping each other to willfully, unlawfully and feloniously have carnal knowledge with Rina, a 14-year-old girl against the latter’s will.

Both Rody and Lando pleaded “not guilty” to the charge. At the trial, Lando confirmed Rina’s narrative of the incidents but said that he was only forced by Rody to do perverted sexual acts and have sexual intercourse with Rina at the point of a gun.  Rody on the other hand presented a different version of the story anchoring his defense mainly on denial. He said that Rina was caught stealing money and the personal belongings of the people in the household. So she had motive to implicate him in such a serious charge.

After trial, the RTC rendered a decision finding Rody guilty of the crime of rape as principal by induction for forcing or inducing Lando to commit it, and imposed upon him the penalty of reclusion perpetua plus payment of P50,000 moral damages. Lando was acquitted because he acted under the impulse of uncontrollable fear of an equal if not greater injury.

Rody still appealed the case to the Supreme Court contending that the trial court erred in giving more credence to the testimony of the prosecution witness than to his own version. In fact he argued that the gun which he allegedly used to force and intimidate Rina and Lando to perform the sexual intercourse was not even presented as evidence.

But the Supreme Court found Rody’s grounds to be without merits. The court said that the straightforward, consistent and candid manner in which Rina related her harrowing experience in the hands of Rody bears all the earmarks of truth. A 14-year old girl from the province, who is so naïve and innocent to the ways of the world is incapable of concocting serious charges against her employer and fabricating a story of aberrant sexual behavior if she has not been  subjected to it. Not only that, the corroborative testimony of Lando was consistent in material aspects with that of Rina, said the Court. On the other hand, the non-presentation of the weapon used in the commission of rape is not essential in the conviction of Rody. It suffices that the testimony of the rape victim has rings of truth and is otherwise credible. So the decision of the lower court is affirmed with the modification that Rody should pay Rina, P50,000 moral damages, P20, 000 exemplary damages and P50,000 indemnity People vs. Siao, G.R. 126021, March 3, 2000).