COMPLEX CRIMES crimes are not limited to grave or less grave felonies but
covers all single act that result in two or more crimes.
Art. 48. Penalty for complex crimes. — When a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies, or when Illustration: an offense is a necessary means for committing the other, the penalty for the most serious crime shall be imposed, the A person threw a hand grenade and the people started same to be applied in its maximum period. scampering. When the hand grenade exploded, no one was seriously wounded all were mere wounded. It was held that Philosophy behind plural crimes: The treatment of plural this is a compound crime, although the resulting felonies are crimes as one is to be lenient to the offender, who, instead of only slight. being made to suffer distinct penalties for every resulting crime is made to suffer one penalty only, although it is the Illustration of a situation where the term “necessary”‖ in penalty for the most serious one and is in the maximum complex crime should not be understood as indispensable: period. Purpose is in the pursuance of the rule of pro reo.
Abetting committed during the encounter between rebels and
If be complexing the crime, the penalty would turn out to be government troops such that the homicide committed cannot higher, do not complex anymore. be complexed with rebellion. This is because they are indispensable part of rebellion. Example: Murder and theft (killed with treachery, then stole the right). The complex crime lies actually in the first form under Article Penalty: If complex – Reclusion temporal maximum to death. 148. If treated individually – Reclusion temporal to Reclusion Perpetua. The first form of the complex crime is actually a compound crime, is one where a single act constitutes two or more Complex crime is not just a matter of penalty, but of grave and/or less grave felonies. The basis in complexing or substance under the Revised Penal Code. compounding the crime is the act. So that when an offender Plurality of crimes may be in the form of: performed more than one act, although similar, if they result in separate crimes, there is no complex crime at all, instead, (1) Compound crime; the offender shall be prosecuted for as many crimes as are (2) Complex crime; and committed under separate information. (3) Composite crime. When the single act brings about two or more crimes, the A COMPOUND CRIME is one where a single act produces offender is punished with only one penalty, although in the two or more crimes. maximum period, because he acted only with single criminal impulse. The presumption is that, since there is only one act formed, it follows that there is only one criminal impulse and A COMPLEX CRIME strictly speaking is one where the correctly, only one penalty should be imposed. offender has to commit an offense as a means for the commission of another offense. It is said that the offense is committed as a necessary means to commit the other Conversely, when there are several acts performed, the offense. “Necessary” should not be understood as assumption is that each act is impelled by a distinct criminal indispensable, otherwise, it shall be considered absorbed and impulse and for every criminal impulse, a separate penalty. not giving rise to a complex crime. However, it may happen that the offender is impelled only by a single criminal impulse in committing a series of acts that brought about more than one crime, considering that Criminal A COMPOSITE CRIME is one in which substance is made up Law, if there is only one criminal impulse which brought about of more than one crime, but which in the eyes of the law only the commission of the crime, the offender should be penalized a single indivisible offense is. This is also known as special only once. complex crime. Examples are robbery with homicide, robbery with rape, rape with homicide. These are crimes which in the eyes of the law are regarded only as a single indivisible There are in fact cases decided by the Supreme Court where offense. the offender has performed a series of acts but the acts appeared to be impelled by one and the same impulse, the ruling is that a complex crime is committed. In this case it is COMPOSITE CRIME/SPECIAL COMPLEX CRIME not the singleness of the act but the singleness of the impulse that has been considered. There are cases where the This is one which in substance is made up of more than one Supreme Court held that the crime committed is complex crime but which in the eyes of the law is only a single even though the offender performed not a single act but a indivisible offense. This is also known as a special complex series of acts. The only reason is that the series of acts are crime. Examples are robbery with homicide, robbery with impelled by a single criminal impulse. rape, and rape with homicide.
The compound crime and the complex crime are treated in
Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code. But in such article, a compound crime is also designated as a complex crime, but “complex crimes” are limited only to a situation where the resulting felonies are grave and/or less grave.
Whereas in a compound crime, there is no limit as to the
gravity of the resulting crimes as long as a single act brings about two or more crimes. Strictly speaking, compound
Anthony Lee Cunningham v. Warren T. Diesslin, Warden, Buena Vista Correctional Facility, Colorado Department of Corrections, 92 F.3d 1054, 10th Cir. (1996)