b. When Accused Dies

Rules on Criminal and Civil Liability When Accused Dies

• Death of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability as well as the civil liability based solely thereon.
• Corollarily, 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.
• Law;
• Contracts;
• Quasi-contracts; and
• Quasi-delicts. (Rule 111, Sec. 4)
• 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 Rule 111, Sec. 1.

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.

• 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 interrupted during the pendency of the criminal case, conformably with provisions of Article 1155 of the Civil Code, that should thereby avoid any apprehension on a possible deprivation of right by prescription. (People v. Lipata, G.R. No. 200302, 2016)

WHEN SEPARATE CIVIL ACTION IS SUSPENDED

EFFECT OF THE DEATH OF ACCUSED OR CONVICT ON CIVIL ACTION

After Arraignment and During the Pendency of the Criminal Action

General Rule: Death extinguishes the civil liability arising from delict or the offense (Rule 111, Sec. 4).

Exception: Where civil liability is predicated on other sources of obligations such as law, contract, quasicontract, and quasi-delict (Asilo v. People G.R. Nos. 159017-18, 2011) - Independent civil action

NOTE: Both may be continued against the estate or legal representative of the accused after proper substitution, or against said estate, whatever the case may be. Heirs of the deceased shall be substituted for the deceased defendant without requiring the appointment of an executor or administrator. The court may also appoint a guardian ad litem for minor heirs. The criminal case is reduced to a civil action. (People v. Lipata y Ortiza, G.R. No. 200302, 2016)

If the civil action has been reserved and subsequently filed or such civil action has been instituted, when the accused died, then such civil action will proceed and substitution of parties shall be ordered by the court pursuant to Section 16 Rule 3 of the Rules of Court.

NOTE: The Supreme Court, in People v. Lipata, ruled that there was no separate civil case instituted prior to the criminal case. Neither was there any reservation for filing a separate civil case for the cause of action arising from quasi-delict. Under the present Rules, the heirs of Cueno should file a separate civil case in order to obtain financial retribution for their loss. The lack of a separate civil case for the cause of action arising from quasi-delict leads us to the conclusion that, a decade after Cueno’s death, his heirs cannot recover even a centavo from the amounts awarded by the CA (People v. Lipata, G.R. No. 200302, 2016).