Practice question
A court validly convicts an accused of four separate offenses, each carrying reclusion perpetua. Counsel proposes to replace the four penalties with a single determinate forty-year sentence and erase the remaining convictions. Which application of Article 70 is correct?
- Adopt the proposal because a service ceiling merges offenses.
- Retain the separate lawful penalties and convictions, applying Article 70's forty-year maximum to their service.
- Require one hundred twenty years of actual service notwithstanding Article 70.
- Convert each perpetual penalty into a thirty-year determinate sentence for every purpose.
- Apply only the shortest offense's penalty and acquit the rest.
Legal references
- Commonwealth Act No. 217, Section 2 amending RPC Article 70, simultaneous and successive service and threefold rule: https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/29/15348
- Mejorada v Sandiganbayan, G.R. Nos. L-51065-72, June 30, 1987, main decision, service rather than imposition: https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1987/jun1987/gr_l-51065_1987.html
- People v Escares, G.R. Nos. L-11128-33, December 23, 1957, main decision, separate penalties and Article 70 service: https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1957/dec1957/gr_l-11128-33_1957.html
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