Death pending appeal of the accused

Dear PAO,

My uncle was convicted for the crime of acts of lasciviousness by the court, but he was able to timely file an appeal. During the pendency of his appeal, my uncle suddenly died from a heart attack.

What are the implications of his death to the liabilities that may be imposed against him arising from the crime charged?

Kevin

Dear Kevin,

Please be informed of the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of People vs. Maylon, GR 240664, June 22, 2020, penned by Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe, which discussed the following:

«1. Death of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability [,] as well as the civil liability [,] based solely thereon.

»As opined by Justice Regalado, in this regard, 'the death of the accused prior to final judgment terminates his criminal liability and only the civil liability directly arising from and based solely on the offense committed, i.e., civil liability ex delicto in senso strictiore.'

«2. Corollary, the claim for civil liability survives notwithstanding the death of accused, if the same may also be predicated on a source of obligation other than delict.

»Article 1157 of the Civil Code enumerates these other sources of obligation from which the civil liability may arise as a result of the same act or omission:

«a) Law

»b) Contracts

«c) Quasi-contracts x x x

»e) Quasi-delicts

«3. Where the civil liability survives, as explained in Number 2 above, an action for recovery therefor may be pursued but only by way of filing a separate civil action and subject to Section 1, Rule 111 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure as amended.

»This separate civil action may be enforced either against the executor/administrator or the estate of the accused, depending on the source of obligation upon which the same is based as explained above.

«4. Finally, the private offended party need not fear a forfeiture of his right to file this separate civil action by prescription, in cases where during the prosecution of the criminal action and prior to its extinction, the private-offended party instituted together therewith the civil action.

»In such case, the statute of limitations on the civil liability is deemed