Did you know that crimes committed at night can double your chances of a harsher sentence? In this article, we will explore nocturnity or nighttime as an aggravating circumstance, including why it is regarded as such, when it is aggravating, and when it is not. Whether you’re a legal professional, law student, or simply someone interested in understanding your rights, this comprehensive guide will illuminate the significance of nighttime in criminal law.
Understanding Aggravating Circumstances
Article 14 of the Revised Penal Code provides:
Art. 14. Aggravating circumstances. – The following are aggravating circumstances: xxx; 6. That the crime be committed in the nighttime, or in an uninhabited place, or by a band, whenever such circumstances may facilitate the commission of the offense.
Aggravating circumstances are factors which, if attendant in the commission of the crime, serve to increase the penalty as well as to justify an award of exemplary or corrective damages. They show greater perversity of the offender and increase the applicable penalty. (People v. ABC260708, G.R. No. 260708, January 23, 2024)
Why nighttime is aggravating
As stated above, nocturnity or nighttime is one of the aggravating circumstances.
The night has always been an ally to those who wish to do harm. Darkness provides natural concealment, reduces the likelihood of witnesses, and often leaves victims more isolated and vulnerable. During nighttime, it is difficult to recognize the accused and for the victim to defend himself or herself. It is precisely these factors that the law penalizes nighttime crimes with higher penalties.
The presence of the aggravating circumstance of nighttime in the commission of the crime increases the penalty to the maximum period imposable. The accused may also be ordered to pay examplary or corrective damages to the victim.
Article 2230 of the Civil Code provides:
Article 2230. In criminal offenses, exemplary damages as a part of the civil liability may be imposed when the crime was committed with one or more aggravating circumstances. Such damages are separate and distinct from fines and shall be paid to the offended party.
Meaning of nighttime
Nighttime is said to be that period of darkness beginning at the end of dusk and ending at dawn. The law defines nights as being from sunset to sunrise (People v. Alfanta, G.R. No. 125633 December 9, 1999).
Requisites of nighttime as aggravating circumstance
By and of itself, nighttime would not be an aggravating circumstance. It becomes an aggravating circumstance only when:
(1) it is specially sought by the offender;
(2) the offender takes advantage of it; or
(3) it facilitates the commission of the crime by insuring the offender’s immunity from identification or capture (People v. Cortes, G.R. No. 137050, July 11, 2001).
People v. Ventura
Facts: The accused were convicted of attempted murder and murder with the aggravating circumstance of nighttime. They appealed their conviction arguing, among others, that nocturnity should not have been considered since one of the victims testified that the bedroom was well-lit and there was light coming from the kitchen and the adjoining bedroom of his children.
Held: While the bedroom where the crimes occurred was well-lit, the evidence shows that the appellants deliberately took advantage of nighttime, as well as the fact that the household members were asleep, in order to gain entry into the residence of the victims.
By their own admission, appellants were already outside the house at around 11:00 p.m. but they purposely waited until 2:00 a.m. before breaking into the residence so as not to call the attention of the victims and their neighbors. It is thus clear that appellants deliberately took advantage of the darkness of the night, not to mention the fact that the victims were fast asleep, to conceal their actions and to facilitate and insure that their entry into the victims’ home would be undetected (G.R. Nos. 148145-46, July 5, 2004).
When nighttime is not aggravating
Nighttime is not aggravating:
(1) If the commission of the crime was commenced at daytime and it was consummated at nighttime;
(2) Chance meeting between the accused and the victim;
(3) The notion to commit the crime was conceived of shortly before its commission. (People v. Pardo, G.R. No. L-562, November 19, 1947).
(4) When the place of the crime is illuminated by light (People v. Espina, G.R. No. 123102, February 29, 2000).
People v. Banhaon
The records reveal that the crime was committed during nighttime. This circumstance is considered aggravating only when it facilitated the commission of the crime, or was especially sought or taken advantage of by the accused for the purpose of impunity. The essence of this aggravating circumstance is the obscuridad afforded by, and not merely the chronological onset of, nighttime. Although the offense was committed at night, nocturnity does not become a modifying factor when the place is adequately lighted and, thus, could no longer insure the offender’s immunity from identification or capture (G.R. No. 131117, June 15, 2004).
People v. Espina
The trial court erred ill appreciating nighttime as a generic aggravating circumstance. Here, other than the time of the crime, there is nothing else to suggest that appellant deliberately availed himself or took advantage of the circumstances of nighttime. Further, when the place of the crime is illuminated by light, as in this case, nighttime is not aggravating (G.R. No. 123102, February 29, 2000).
Nighttime and treachery
General Rule: Nighttime is absorbed in treachery
It is a settled rule that nocturnity may not be taken as an aggravating circumstance separate and independent of treachery. The reason for this rule is that nighttime forms part of the peculiar treacherous means and manner adopted to insure the execution of the crime (G.R. No. 134245 December 1, 2000).
Where nocturnity is so interlocked with the circumstance of treachery as to become part of the latter, nocturnity cannot be taken into consideration as an aggravating circumstance. (People v. Pardo, G.R. No. L-562, November 19, 1947).
People v. Cirilo
Facts: On November 30, 1990, at around 7:20 o’clock in the evening, Lorna together with Alicia and Efren, was outside her house. Cirilo suddenly appeared in a squatting position, aiming a shotgun at them. Lorna had a clear view of Cirilo’s face inasmuch as she was holding a kerosene torch. Cirilo warned them not to shout, or he would kill them. Lorna then heard a gunshot and saw Efren, bleeding just below his chest. Cirilo fled through the fence and at that point Efren was already dead.
Held: Cirilo is guilty of murder qualified by treachery. He took advantage of the dark for a sudden and successful attack on Dableo. If not for the kerosene torch, his presence could not have been noticed. The attack on Efren was sudden and swift. It was not by accident or provocation that he attacked Efren. He was there waiting in ambush for the said victim.
It is a settled rule that nocturnity may not be taken as an aggravating circumstance separate and independent of treachery. The reason for this rule is that nighttime forms part of the peculiar treacherous means and manner adopted to insure the execution of the crime. Inasmuch as nighttime was adopted by Cirilo to facilitate the means of execution of the crime, it is absorbed by the qualifying aggravating circumstance of treachery (G.R. No. 134245 December 1, 2000).
Exception:
Nighttime and treachery can be considered separately if they have independent factual basis.
People v. Berdida
Inasmuch as the treachery consisted in the fact that the victims’ hands were tied at the time they were beaten, the circumstance of nighttime is not absorbed in treachery, but can be perceived distinctly therefrom, since the treachery rests upon an independent factual basis. A special case therefore is present to which the rule that nighttime is absorbed in treachery does not apply (G.R. No. L-20183, June 30, 1966).
Conclusion
In summary, nighttime can be considered an aggravating circumstance in criminal law when it is taken advantage of or facilitates the commission of a crime. Deliberate planning to commit a crime under cover of darkness and ensuring the victim’s vulnerability due to reduced visibility can lead to an increased penalty and liability of the offender to pay exemplary damages. However, nighttime may not be aggravating if it was not sought to insure the commission of the crimes or for the purpose of immunity.