ARCHITECT

PLOT:
Ted Crawford, played by Anthony Hopkins, shot his wife who was having an affair.
He used the gun of his wifes paramour, Nunally. Cleaned up all the other evidence.
oslings character, !eachum, was an ambitious prosecutor who has never lost a case.
Crawford planned everything down to a T.
He was able to impeach the testimony of Nunally by arguing that he was under duress
while his confession was taken.
There was no murder weapon found.
"oved for dismissal for insufficiency of evidence
Charge was for attempted murder
"otion was granted.
#ulled the plug off of his wife.
"ade a confession to !eachum as Crawford gave the murder weapon
!eachum insisted that there is a new charge as crime is now murder since wife died.
"ovie ended in another trial this time on appeal.
PROPRIETY OF CHARGE
Charge was for attempted murder.
$ection % of &#C Art. %. Consummated, frustrated, and attempted felonies. ' Consummated
felonies as well as those which are frustrated and attempted, are punishable.
A felony is consummated when all the elements necessary for its e(ecution and
accomplishment are present) and it is frustrated when the offender performs all the acts of
e(ecution which would produce the felony as a conse*uence but which, nevertheless, do not
produce it by reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator.
There is an attempt when the offender commences the commission of a felony directly or over
acts, and does not perform all the acts of e(ecution which should produce the felony by reason
of some cause or accident other than this own spontaneous desistance.
+ Article ,-. of the &evised #enal Code involves death or physical in/uries inflicted under
e(ceptional circumstances. 0t states that1
2Any legally married person who having surprised his spouse in the act of committing se(ual
intercourse with another person, shall kill any of them or both of them in the act or immediately
thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any serious physical in/ury, shall suffer the penalty of
destierro.
+ Art. ,-3. "urder. ' Any person who, not falling within the provisions of Article ,-% shall kill
another, shall be guilty of murder and shall be punished by reclusion temporal in its ma(imum
period to death, if committed with any of the following attendant circumstances1
4. 5ith treachery, taking advantage of superior strength, with the aid of armed men, or
employing means to weaken the defense or of means or persons to insure or afford
impunity.chanrobles virtual law library
,. 0n consideration of a price, reward, or promise.chanrobles virtual law library
6. !y means of inundation, fire, poison, e(plosion, shipwreck, stranding of a vessel, derailment
or assault upon a street car or locomotive, fall of an airship, by means of motor vehicles, or with
the use of any other means involving great waste and ruin.chanrobles virtual law library
-. 7n occasion of any of the calamities enumerated in the preceding paragraph, or of an
earth*uake, eruption of a volcano, destructive cyclone, epidemic or other public
calamity.chanrobles virtual law library
8. 5ith evident premeditation.chanrobles virtual law library
%. 5ith cruelty, by deliberately and inhumanly augmenting the suffering of the victim, or
outraging or scoffing at his person or corpse.ch
There is evident premeditation as there was sufficient time for accused to plan and
orchestrate his criminal designs unaffected by any vices of free wil.
There is however a frustration of the murder committed. He was able to inflict a fatal
wound. 9ailure to obtain the result was due to causes independent of the will of the
perpetrator.
ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE
9ruit of the poisonous tree. $ection 4, Article 6, 4:3. Constitution. No torture, force,
violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate the free will shall be
used against him.
&ule against forced confessions cannot apply to spontaneous statements made by
the accused.
Allegations of duress must be duly proved. 0t cannot rest on mere insistence of
accused. #resumption of regularity must be properly disputed by means of evidence.
$tatement of Nunally should have been admitted.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY
&ule 44. section .
$ec. .. 9ormer conviction or ac*uittal) double /eopardy. ; 5hen an accused has been
convicted or ac*uitted, or the case against him dismissed or otherwise terminated
without his e(press consent by a court of competent /urisdiction, upon a valid complaint
or information or other formal charge sufficient in form and substance to sustain a
conviction and after the accused had pleaded to the charge, the conviction or ac*uittal of
the accused or the dismissal of the case shall be a bar to another prosecution for the
offense charged, or for any attempt to commit the same or frustration thereof, or for any
offense which necessarily includes or is necessarily included in the offense charged in
the former complaint or information.
However, the conviction of the accused shall not be a bar to another prosecution for an
offense which necessarily includes the offense charged in the former complaint or
information under any of the following instances1
<a= the graver offense developed due to supervening facts arising from the same act or
omission constituting the former charge)
<b= the facts constituting the graver charge became known or were discovered only after
a plea was entered in the former complaint or information) or
<c= the plea of guilty to the lesser offense was made without the consent of the
prosecutor and of the offended party e(cept as provided in section 4<f= of &ule 44%.
0n any of the foregoing cases, where the accused satisfies or serves in whole or in part
the /udgment, he shall be credited with the same in the event of conviction for the graver
offense.
Clear from the letter of the law that what was allowed was new trial A9T>& ?@A">NT
79 C7NB0CT07N supposing there be new evidence or e(istence of e(ceptions.
$ince ACC@0TTAD was ordered, it effectively barred the second prosecution regardless
of subse*uent death.
#ro(imate cause rule1 felony charged must have been the pro(imate cause of resulting
in/ury. 0n this case, second trial was for an in/ury not caused by the act of accused.
>lements of Aouble ?eopardy1
o <a= valid complaint or information) <b= a competent court) <c= the defendant had
pleaded to the charge) and <d= the defendant was ac*uitted, or convicted, or the
case against him was dismissed or otherwise terminated without his e(press
consent.
o Consent of accused only matters in dismissal of the case because of causes
7TH>& THAN trial on merits.
o Case against Crawford protected by the Aouble ?eopardy rule