Capili vs. People et. al.

G.R. No. 183850

July 03, 2013

Facts:
Petitioner James Capili married Karla Medina. But then, just three
months later in December 1999, he married another woman named Shirley
Tismo. Karla Medina filed an action for declaration of nullity of the second
marriage between Capili and Tismo. In June 2004, Private Respondent Tismo
filed a bigamy case against Capili. During the course of trial for the Bigamy
case, RTC of Antipolo City rendered a decision declaring the voidness or
incipient invalidity of the second marriage between petitioner and private
respondent on the ground that a subsequent marriage contracted by the
husband during the lifetime of the legal wife is void from the beginning.
Then, the petitioner-accused filed his Manifestation and Motion (to
Dismiss) praying for the dismissal of the criminal case for bigamy filed against
him on the ground that the second marriage between him and private
respondent had already been declared void by the RTC because of the recent
judgment made by the RTC Antipolo.
The trial court agreed with Capili and it dismissed the bigamy case. On
appeal by the Private Respondent Tismo, the Court of Appeals reversed the
dismissal and remanded the case to the trial court.
Aggrieved, the petitioner filed this petition to the Supreme Court.

Issue:
Whether or not the subsequent declaration of nullity of the second
marriage is a ground for dismissal of the criminal case for bigamy.

Ruling:
The Supreme Court ruled in the negative. In this case, When Capili
married Tismo, all the above elements for bigamy are present. It is already
immaterial if the second was subsequently declared void. The outcome of the
civil case filed by Karla Medina had no legal standing to the determination of
petitioner’s guilt or innocence in the bigamy case because all that is required
for the charge of bigamy to prosper is that the first marriage be subsisting at
the time the second marriage is contracted. Under the law, he who contracts a
second marriage before the judicial declaration of the first marriage assumes
the risk of being prosecuted for bigamy.
The Supreme Court cited the case of Jarillo vs. People, stating that “the Court
affirmed the accused’s conviction for bigamy ruling that the crime of bigamy is
consummated on the celebration of the subsequent marriage without the
previous one having been judicially declared null and void.”