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Chiok VS People
Chiok VS People
CHIOK VS PEOPLE
Chiok was charged with estafa, defined and penalized under Article 315, paragraph 1(b) of the
Revised Penal Code
I. Whether or not Chua has a legal personality to file and prosecute this petition.
II. Whether or not the case is an exception to the rule on finality of acquittal and the doctrine of
double jeopardy.
I. Chua lacks the legal personality to file this petition. Chua lacks the personality or legal
standing to question the CA Decision because it is only the OSG, on behalf of the State, which can
bring actions in criminal proceedings before this Court and the CA.
The rationale behind this rule is that in a criminal case, the party affected by the dismissal of the
criminal action is the State and not the private complainant. The interest of the private complainant
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II. The appeal from the judgment of acquittal will place Chiok in double jeopardy. In order to
give life to the rule on double jeopardy, our rules on criminal proceedings require that a judgment of
acquittal, whether ordered by the trial or the appellate court, is final, unappealable, and immediately
executory upon its promulgation
Chua assails the acquittal of Chiok on two grounds. First, the first jeopardy did not attach because
the CA did not have jurisdiction over the appeal; Chiok having lost his right to appeal when the CA
found him to have jumped bail. Second assuming that the first jeopardy attached, the circumstances
of this case is an exception to the rule on double jeopardy.
III. Chiok is civilly liable to Chua in the amount of ₱9,563,900.00. There is also no merit in
Chiok's claim that his absolution from civil liability in the BP 22 case involving the same transaction
bars civil liability in this estafa case under the doctrine of res judicata in the concept of
"conclusiveness of judgment."
the principle of res judicata in the concept of conclusiveness of judgment presupposes that facts and
issues were actually and directly resolved in a previous case. The basis or Chiok's acquittal therein
is the prosecution's failure to show that a notice of dishonor was first given to Chiok.