Section 6, Rule 122 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that an appeal must be taken within fifteen (15) days from promulgation of the judgment or from notice of the final order appealed from. In this case, the judgment convicting the petitioner of the crime of Estafa was promulgated on March 25, 2009. Instead of filing a notice of appeal within fifteen (15) days from the promulgation or notice of judgment, the petitioner filed with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) a motion to lift warrant of arrest and to reinstate bail bond three (3) months later. It was only in November 2010 or more than a year later since the RTC denied her motion that the petitioner filed with the Court of Appeals (CA) her motion to admit notice of appeal. At that point, her judgment of conviction has already attained finality and cannot be modified or set aside anymore in accordance with Section 7, Rule 120 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure. Thus, the CA did not commit any reversible error in denying the petitioner’s motion inasmuch as by the time the petitioner filed the same, the appellate court was already bereft of any jurisdiction to entertain the motion.
- Anita Ramirez v. People of the Philippines,G.R. No. 197832, October 2, 2013. Lexoterica.
