ART.

36 - PERSONS
CAPILI VS PEOPLE
James Walter P. Capili VS People of the Phil. and Shirley Tismo-Capili
G.R. NO. 183805 JULY 3, 2013
Ponente: Peralta
FACTS: On or about December 8, 1999, in Pasig City, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court,
the accused being previously united in lawful marriage with Karla Y. Medina-Capili and without said
marriage having been legally dissolved or annulled, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously
contract a second marriage with Shirley G. Tismo, to the damage and prejudice of the latter.
In the interim, the 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.
Thereafter, 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.
The motion is anchored on the allegation that this case should be dismissed as a decision dated
December 1, 2004 had already been rendered by the Regional Trial Court of Antipolo City, Branch 72 in
Civil Case No. 01-6043 (entitled: "Karla Medina-Capili versus James Walter P. Capili and Shirley G.
Tismo," a case for declaration of nullity of marriage) nullifying the second marriage between James Walter
P. Capili and Shirley G. Tismo and said decision is already final.
In the opposition filed by the private prosecutor to the motion, it was stated, among others, that the issues
raised in the civil case are not similar or intimately related to the issue in this above-captioned case and
that the resolution of the issues in said civil case would not determine whether or not the criminal action
may proceed. The trial court agreed with Capili and it dismissed the bigamy case. On appeal, the Court of
Appeals reversed the dismissal and remanded the case to the trial 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: NO. Since all the elements of the crime of bigamy were present when the Information was filed
on June 28, 2004.
The elements of the crime of bigamy are:
(1) the offender has been legally married;
(2) the marriage has not been legally dissolved or, in case his or her spouse is absent, the absent spouse
could not yet be presumed dead according to the Civil Code;
(3) that he contracts a second or subsequent marriage; and
(4) that the second or subsequent marriage has all the essential requisites for validity.
The subsequent judicial declaration of the nullity of the first marriage was immaterial because prior to the
declaration of nullity, the crime (bigamy) had already been consummated at the time the second marriage
was contracted while the first marriage was subsisting.