ART. 19 ACCESSORIES- Revised Penal Code

ART. 19 ACCESSORIES

A. They are referred to as the Accessories Proper or the Accessories- After- the-Fact. This is because their participation in the crime comes only after the crime has been committed by others. It is only then that they enter into the picture.

B. Requirement of Scienter: All 3 kinds of accessories require that they must have knowledge of the commission of the crime otherwise they are not liable even if they did an act described in Article 19.

I. The First Kind: By profiting themselves or assisting the offender profit by the effects of the crime.

A. The effects of the crime includes the property taken as well as the price, promise or reward given as the determining cause of the crime

B. “Profiting themselves” include any act of dealing with the property including accepting as a gift, donation, security or purchasing it a lower price. The transaction involving the property however must be mutual and voluntary with whosoever the accessory dealt with otherwise he is liable as the principal in theft or robbery.

Example: X pick-pocketed the money stolen by Z from another. X is not an accessory even if he profited himself but is liable for theft. Or if X poked a gun at Z and took the money, he would be liable for robbery. If Z dropped some of the money he stole which X picked up, X is liable for theft not as an accessory.  

C. “Assisting the offender profit” includes acts of looking for a buyer, though no commission is received, or of secreting it away or joining in its disposal. 

D. Relation to Pres. Decree No. 1612 or “The Anti Fencing Law”

1. If the crimes involve theft or robbery, the acts may be punished as “FENCING” i.e. the act of any person “ who, with intent to gain for himself or for another, shall buy, receive, possess, etc. or in any manner deal in any article, item, object, or anything of value which he knows or should be known to him, to have been derived from the proceeds of robbery or theft”

2. The knowledge (scienter) may be actual or constructive

3. The venue is where the property is foun

4. The prior conviction of the thief/robber is not required to convict the fence. But it be proved the property came from robbery/theft, not any other offense such as estafa, malversation, kidnapping.

5. An accessory cannot again be prosecuted for fencing and vise-versa

E. If the property was the proceeds of Highway Robbery or Piracy, the dealer is not liable as an accessory but for Violation of P.D. 532 for the crime of Aiding/Abetting Brigands or Pirates

II. The Second Act: By concealing or destroying the body of the crime or the effects or instruments in order to prevent its discovery.

A. To conceal or destroy the body of the crime includes all manner of interfering with, or altering the original conditions of the crime scene, or of anything therein which may be considered as evidence, prior to a completion of the evidence gathering by the law enforcers.  Examples:

1. Changing the position of the body of the victim

2. Placing a weapon or removing one or replacing a weapon

3. Throwing pieces of evidence as cigarettes butts

4. Washing off the blood stains or cleaning the crime scene

5. Placing a suicide note

6. Making unnecessary foot prints

B. The object or purpose must be to prevent the authorities from discovering what truly transpired such as the number and identity of the assailants; how the crime was committed, and all matters related to the solution of the crime and prosecution of the offenders.

1. Thus one who help moved the body not knowing the reason why is not an accessory

2. One who acted out of curiosity or who moved the body for fear of reprisal or of being blamed as the killer is not an accessory

III. The Third Act: By harboring, concealing or assisting in the escape of the principal.

A. There are two kinds of accessories under this mode:

1. A Public Officer- he must abuse his public function and the crime by the principal maybe any crime. If there was no abuse then he will be considered as a private person

Example: The Mayor hides a suspect in his office to prevent identification or provides a false alibi for him

2. A Private Person- the principal must be guilty of treason, parricide, murder, attempt on the life of the chief executive, or is habitually guilty of some other crime.

B. Meaning of the term” guilty”. For purposes of charging a person as an accessory, the term does not mean a judicial pronouncement of guilt but means ”probably guilty of”. But where the court later finds that the crime committed by the principal is not any of the enumerated offenses, then the private person who assisted him escape is not an accessory.

C.  The acts include (i) giving of material help such as food, money or clothing (ii) providing shelter, a safe house or hideaway (iii) providing a mode of transportation (iv) providing disguises, false identification papers, as well as by (v) refusing to cooperate with the authorities or to identify the principal or (vi) giving disinformation or false data

D. Under Pres. Decree No. 1829, the same act maybe punished as “Obstruction of Justice” - the crime committed by any person who assist in the escape of a person who committed any crime.

 May the Accessory be tried and declared guilty ahead of the principal?

A. As a rule the answer is no because of the principle that the liability of the Accessory is Subordinate to that of the Principal. There must first be a person convicted as a principal before there can be an accessory.

B. However, the accessory maybe prosecuted ahead of the principal even if the principal has not yet been identified or arrested or has surrendered  if: First;  the act of the accessory is under either paragraph (a) or (b)  or Second; even under paragraph C if the principal has not yet been placed under the jurisdiction of the authorities.

C. Once the principal is later tried but the case against the accessory has not yet been terminated, the trial against the accessory must be suspended to await the outcome of the trial against the principal. However the two cases maybe consolidated and tried jointly, if proper

 If the principal is acquitted, should the accessory be also acquitted?

A. If the principal was acquitted by reason of a justifying circumstance, then the accessory must also be acquitted.

B. If the principal was acquitted due to an exempting circumstance, the accessory may still be convicted.   

C. If the ground is that the guilt was not proven beyond reasonable doubt, the accessory may still be convicted if his acts fall under either paragraph (a) or (b)

If the principal dies, may the accessory still be prosecuted?

A. Yes, if the act is under either paragraph (a) or (b)

B. But if his act falls under paragraph © there are two views on the matter. The first view holds that he cannot be prosecuted for in legal contemplation there was no principal whom he assisted. The second view holds that the accessory may still be prosecuted because the death merely extinguished the liability of the principal but the crime remains and the participation of the accessory in it may still be proved.