INDETERMINATE SENTENCE LAW

Facts:
A, a minor 17 years of age, killed B and C who were the unlawful aggressor. A did
not give sufficient provocation to both B and C. But the means employed by A to
defend himself was not reasonable. After killing both B and C, A surrendered to the
authorities.

Application of the
Indeterminate Penalty

The maximum term shall be that which, in view of the attending circumstances,
could be properly imposed under the rules of the Revised Penal Code.

The minimum term shall be within the range of the penalty next lower to that
prescribed by the code for the offense.

Determination of Indeterminate penalty,

where there are two (2) privileged mitigating
and ordinary mitigating circumstances

If A is convicted of Homicide penalized by reclusion temporal under the Revised

Penal Code with the following attending circumstances:
- Privileged mitigating circumstance of Minority under Article 68
- Privileged mitigating circumstance of Incomplete self-defense under Article 69
- Ordinary mitigating circumstance of Voluntary surrender under Article 13

The Indeterminate penalty shall be computed as follows:

*To determine the maximum term

1. Lower first the penalty prescribed by the Code for the offense (reclusion
temporal) by two degrees (one (1) for Minority and another one (1) for
Incomplter self-defense) or prision correccional

Art. 68. Penalty to be imposed upon a person under eighteen

years of age. When the offender is a minor under eighteen years and
his case is one coming under the provisions of the paragraphs next to the
last of Article 80 of this Code, the following rules shall be observed:

1. Upon a person under fifteen but over nine years of age, who is not
exempted from liability by reason of the court having declared that
he acted with discernment, a discretionary penalty shall be
imposed, but always lower by two degrees at least than that
prescribed by law for the crime which he committed.
2. Upon a person over fifteen and under eighteen years of age the
penalty next lower than that prescribed by law shall be imposed,
but always in the proper period.
 Art. 69. Penalty to be imposed when the crime committed is
not wholly excusable. A penalty lower by one or two degrees
than that prescribed by law shall be imposed if the deed is not wholly
excusable by reason of the lack of some of the conditions required to
justify the same or to exempt from criminal liability in the several cases
mentioned in Article 11 and 12, provided that the majority of such
conditions be present. The courts shall impose the penalty in the period
which may be deemed proper, in view of the number and nature of the
conditions of exemption present or lacking.

2. The penalty then of prision correccional should be applied in the minimum

period (in view of one ordinary mitigating circumstance of voluntary
surrender)

*To determine the minimum term

1. Get the penalty one (1) degree lower from the maximum penalty (prision
correccional) ,without taking into account the mitigating or aggravating
circumstance, which is arresto mayor.

In determining the minimum penalty, it is left entirely within the

discretion of the court to fix it anywhere within the range of the penalty next
lower without reference to the periods into which it may be subdivided
(People vs. Ducosin, 59 Phil. 109)

Art. 13. Mitigating circumstances. The following are mitigating

circumstances;
xxx

7. That the offender had voluntarily surrendered himself to a person in

authority or his agents xxx

For voluntary surrender to be appreciated, the following requisites should

be present:
1) the offender has not been actually arrested;
2) the offender surrendered himself to a person in authority or the latters
agent; and
3) the surrender was voluntary. [People v. Oco, 458 Phil. 815, 851 (2003)]

Therefore, the Indeterminate sentence will be:

MAXIMUM prision correccional minimum, in its proper period after

considering the
mitigating circumstance

MINIMUM Arresto mayor, in any of its periods or anywhere within the

range of arresto
 mayor without reference to any of its periods.
DETERMINATION OF MAXIMUM TERM

RECLUSION TEMPORAL Penalty prescribed by the Code for the felony of

HOMICIDE

Lower by one (1) degree in view of the privileged mitigating

circumstance of MINORITY

PRISION MAYOR

Lower by one (1) degree in view of the privileged mitigating

circumstance of INCOMPLETE SELF-DEFENSE

PRISION
CORRECCIONAL
MINIMUM

MEDIUM - in medium because of the attending mitigating

circumstance of VOLUNTARY SURRENDER

MAXIMUM

If the Court will lower the penalty by two (2) degrees in view of the Incomplete
justifying cirumstance of Self-defense, the Indeterminate sentence will be:
 MAXIMUM arresto mayor minimum, in its proper period after considering
the
mitigating circumstance

MINIMUM Arresto mayor, in any of its periods or anywhere within the range of
arresto
mayor without reference to any of its periods.

DETERMINATION OF MAXIMUM TERM

RECLUSION TEMPORAL Penalty prescribed by the Code for the felony of

HOMICIDE

Lower by one (1) degree in view of the privileged

mitigating
circumstance of MINORITY

PRISION MAYOR

PRISION
CORRECCIONAL
Lower by two (2) degrees in view of the
privileged mitigating circumstance of
INCOMPLETE SELF-DEFENSE

ARRESTO MAYOR

MINIMUM

MEDIUM - in medium because of the attending mitigating

circumstance of VOLUNTARY SURRENDER

MAXIMUM