THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. CARSON TAYLOR, defendant-appellant.
G.R. No. L-9726 December 8, 1914
Nature of the Action: An appeal for criminal libel
FACTS:
1. 25 September 1913, Carson Taylor, then and there the acting editor and proprietor, manager, printer, and publisher of Manila Daily Bulletin, a paper of large circulation edited in English and Spanish, allegedly composed, printed, edited, published, and circulated and procured to be composed, printed, edited, published, and circulated in said newspaper’s about Ramon Atty. Ramon Sotelo which implicated that there had been conspiracy and fraud between said attorney and owner of the burnt building so as to collect insurance.
2. Atty. Sotelo further contended that the article was of certain false and malicious defamation and libel. The CFI agreed to Atty. Sotelo. Upon said complaint the defendant was arrested, arraigned, plead not guilty, was tried, found guilty of the crime charged, and sentenced by the Honorable George N. Hurd, judge, to pay a fine of P200.
3. From that sentence the defendant appealed to this court and made the following assignment of errors:
ISSUE:
W/N The court erred in finding that the defendant was responsible for and guilty of the alleged libel in finding that the defendant was the proprietor and publisher of the ’Manila Daily Bulletin.
RULING:
In the Philippine Islands, there are no common-law crimes. No act constitutes a crime here unless it is made so by law. Libel is made a crime here by Act No. 277 of the United States Philippine Commission. Said Act (No. 277)section 6 provides that: "Every author, editor, or proprietor of any book, newspaper, or serial publication is chargeable with the publication of any words contained in any part of said book or number of each newspaper or serial as fully as if he were the author of the same.
The proof shows that Taylor was the "manager." The "Manila Daily Bulletin" is owned by the "Bulletin Publishing Company," and that the defendant was its manager. There is not a word of proof in the record which shows what relation the manager had to the publication of said newspaper.
For the foregoing reasons, therefore, there being no proof whatever in the record showing that the defendant was the “author, the editor, or the proprietor” of the newspaper in question, the sentence of the lower court must be reversed, the complaint dismissed and the defendant discharged from the custody of the law, with costs de officio.
RATIO DECIDENDI:
Yes; explained by the Supreme Court, common-law crimes do not exist in the Philippine islands. Thus, an act does not constitute a crime when no law makes it so. In the instant case, although libel is made a crime, the defendant is not the author, editor, or proprietor of the said newspaper—instead, only its manager. Neither does the proof show in the record that the manager played a part in the publication of the article.
Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege = There is no crime if there is no law punishing it.
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