People Vs Garcia Digest 4q5226

People vs Garcia, GR 177740 April 05, 2010 Facts: According to the prosecution, during the afternoon of Jan. 06, 2000, the 5 yr old niece of the accused, while playing with some friends outside their house was called by the former and brought in to the house. They went to the room of the accused and the latter removed the clothes of the child. After the accused removed his clothes and inserted his penis into the child’s vagina. The latter was unable to cry because she was threatened by the accused. On the same day, the grandmother noticed something wrong when she tried to bathe the child but the latter refused to be touched on her private part because it was painful. The grandmother suspected that the child was abused, brought the latter to the house of her sister-in-law where the child confessed what happened. The child was later on subjected for examination but the results showed that her hymen was not broken and that there were no signs of extragenital injuries. On the other hand, the accused interposed the defense of alibi hereby saying that he was fixing a water pump during the alleged time of the event. RTC convicted the accused for the crime of rape. CA affirmed the decision of the RTC which led the accused to file an appeal interposing that the courts erred in convicting him despite the fact that the medicolegal shows there were no swelling on the victim’s private part and the hymen was not broken. Issue: Whether the crime of rape has been sufficiently proven to convict the accused? Ruling: The court ruled in the affirmative. The Court stated that the lack of lacerated wounds does not negate sexual intercourse. A freshly broken hymen is not an essential element of rape. Even the fact that the hymen of the victim is still intact does not rule out rape since research show that the hymen may not be torn despite repeated coitus. In any case, for rape to be consummated, full penetration is not necessary. It suffices that there is proof of the entrance of the male organ into the labia of the pudendum of the female organ. The court gave credence to the testimony of the victim. It stated that a rape victim who testifies in a categorical, straightforward, spontaneous and frank manner, and remains consistent, is a credible witness.