What is kidnapping?
o Private individual intends to deprive the victim of his liberty and actually deprives him of such liberty.
o Lack of consent of the victim is fundamental. Presumed if the victim is a minor. o What is the specific intent needed?
Specific intent is to deprive liberty
Can there be kidnapping even if the victim initially agreed to go with the offender?
o Yes. If at the onset, the victim agreed to go with the offender, but is thereafter prevented with use of force from leaving the place, and there was deprivation of liberty, there is kidnapping.
Does deprivation just involve imprisonment or locking up?
o No. It can include deprivation of liberty in whatever form, and for whatever length of time.
o No need for actual deprivation of liberty, even if free to roam around, but cannot go home or go anywhere, there is still deprivation of liberty
When does it become Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention under Article 267?
o 1. Detention lasted more than 3 days o 2. Offenders simulated public authority
o 3. Physical injuries were inflicted on the victim o 4. Threats to kill the victim were made
o 5. Victim is a female, public officer, or minor (except when accused is one of the parents)
What are the qualifying circumstances? o 1. Ransom is demanded
o 2. Victim is killed or dies as a consequence o 3. Victim is raped
o 4. Victim is subjected to torture or dehumanizing acts
Distinguish kidnapping from grave coercion:
o In grave coercion, a person is also prevented from leaving or going to another place, but there is no actual confinement or lockup of the victim.
o P v. Astorga: accused and victim where strolling in school grounds where accused led victim to another town. The child wanted to leave but accused did not let her, parents saw them, not kidnapping but grave coercion
Is length of time relevant?
o Only for the first paragraph (more than 3 days). Duration or length of time is irrelevant if any of the circumstance in par. 2 to the last paragraph of Art. 267.
If the private individual pretended to be a policeman, is it a police crime of kidnapping with usurpation of public authority?
o No. The usurpation of public authority is a mode of committing kidnapping (par. 2) so it is not a distinct offense.
Is there a complex crime of kidnapping with SPI?
o No. Infliction of SPI is a mode of kidnapping (par. 3).
What if the victim in kidnapping is tortured?
o Under RA 9745, if the victim in crimes against persons or crimes against liberty is tortured, then the penalty imposed is the maximum.
What if the victim is killed?
o Special complex crime of kidnapping with homicide. o Or special complex crime of kidnapping with murder.
o If kidnapped and raped, then killed, special complex crime of kidnapping with rape, don’t appreciate the killing anymore. o If both raped and killed, kidnapping with rape, homicide not an
aggravating circumstance but may be used as basis of civil liability
o If there was ransom, it is kidnapping with homicide for ransom
When do such special complex crimes arise?
o When there is a logical connection or intimate relation between the kidnapping and the rape or homicide.
o This applies even if the rape or killing is merely an afterthought. o What if the person dies in crossfire due to police officers
firing?
There is still kidnapping with homicide because it’s only required that there is a “logical connection” with the kidnapping or that arises from it
o What about torture?
Apply RA 9745 instead.
“Dehumanizing acts” – this has been amended by RA 9745, which considers torture as distinct from dehumanizing acts
What if two persons were killed by reason or on occasion of the kidnapping?
o There are as many crimes as the number of persons kidnapped.
o So in this example, there are two counts of the special complex crime of kidnapping with homicide.
What if a component crime of the special complex crime was merely attempted or frustrated?
o There is no special complex crime. The special complex crime only arises when all component crimes are consummated. o If victim subjected to attempted or frustrated homicide/murder,
this is separate from the crime of kidnapping, do not use Art. 48
X and Y kidnapped Z, took his car, and demanded ransom. When they failed to get ransom, they killed Z. What are the crimes?
o 1) Kidnapping with homicide for ransom. 2) Carnapping
There is a special complex crime.
o The SC, however, said that the crime is kidnapping for ransom and carnapping, with the homicide as aggravating circumstance. The odd thing is there is no law allowing for the homicide to be an aggravating circumstance. (P v. Muit)
What are dehumanizing acts under par. 4?
o Removing qualities of human passion, such as handcuffing, gagging and blindfolding, forcing to dance
Must ransom be paid?
o No, mere demand for ransom is enough. o What can ransom encompass?
Not just money but anything of value or beneficial
When is it just murder, and when is it kidnapping with homicide? o Primary purpose of the offender is material in determining the
crime. If the primary purpose is to kill, it’s murder. If the primary purpose is deprivation of liberty and the victim is killed, kidnapping with homicide.
What about rape vis-à-vis kidnapping with rape?
o If the original purpose is rape, and the deprivation of liberty is to fulfill this purpose, then rape. For kidnapping with rape, the rape must just happen on occasion of the kidnapping.
Under PD 532, what if kidnapping is committed too? o Qualified. Penalty is (before) death.
When will kidnapping of a person on the highway become a crime under PD 532?
o The seizure must be directed not against a specific or preconceived victim, but against anyone (indiscriminate). o Must prove that the offenders are organized for the committing
of indiscriminate kidnapping.
Differentiate kidnapping from SID:
o Kidnapping denotes taking of a victim o SID consists in mere deprivation of liberty
Can murder and kidnapping with murder arise as two separate crimes?
o Yes. Ex. X killed son of employer then kidnapped and killed the other child, 2 crimes: murder and kidnapping with murder,
as the killing of the first child was already consummated at the time the second was kidnapped and killed.