Thursday, March 26, 2015

With the dismissal of the administrative case, the CA correctly dismissed its criminal counterpart of perjury - G.R. No. 201643

See - G.R. No. 201643





"x x x.

Ineluctably, the dismissal of an administrative case does not necessarily bar the filing of a criminal prosecution for the same or similar acts, which were the subject of the administrative complaint. The Court finds no cogent reason to depart from this rule. However, the crime of perjury for which Capulong was charged, requires a willful and deliberate assertion of a falsehood in a statement under oath or in an affidavit, and the statement or affidavit in question here is Capulong's SALNs. It then becomes necessary to consider the administrative charge against Capulong to determine whether or not he has committed perjury. Therefore, with the dismissal of Capulong's administrative case, the CA correctly dismissed its criminal counterpart since the crime of perjury which stemmed from misrepresentations in his SALNs will no longer have a leg to stand on.

x x x.: