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4. Destierro, Illegal Drug

(10%)
Macky, a security guard, arrived home late one night after rendering overtime. He was shocked to see Joy, his wife, and Ken, his best friend, in the act of having sexual intercourse. Macky pulled out his service gun and shot and killed Ken. Macky was charged with murder for the death of Ken.

The court found that Ken died under exceptional circumstances and exonerated Macky of murder but sentenced him to destierro, conformably with Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code. The court also ordered Macky to pay indemnity to the heirs of the victim in the amount of P50,000.

(a) Did the court correctly order Macky to pay indemnity even though he was exonerated of murder? Explain your answer.

(b) While serving his sentence, Macky entered the prohibited area and had a pot session with Ivy (Joy’s sister). Is Macky entitled to an indeterminate sentence in case he is found guilty of use of prohibited substances? Explain your answer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

a.

No. Macky is not liable to pay indemnity to the heirs of Ken because when Macky killed Ken, Macky was not performing an unlawful act. Under the law, the act was lawful as it was done under an exceptional circumstance. One cannot be liable, whether criminally or civilly, if he is just performing a lawful act.

b.

Macky is entitled to an indeterminate sentence in case he is found guilty of use of prohibited substances as this is not one of the exceptions to the application of the Indeterminate Sentence Law. But in case he is found to have evaded the service of his sentence of destierro, he will not be entitled to an indeterminate sentence because when one evades his sentence, said law does not apply.