Frustrated and Attempted Felony. – “Art. 6 of the RPC defines the stages of a felony as follows:
ART. Consummated, frustrated, and attempted felonies. – Consummated felonies, as well as those which are frustrated and attempted, are punishable.
A felony is consummated when all the elements necessary for its execution and accomplishment are present; and it is frustrated when the offender performs all the acts of execution which would produce the felony as a consequence, but which, nevertheless, do not produce it by reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator.
There is an attempt when the offender commences the commission of a felony directly by overt acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution which should produce the felony by reason of some cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance.
Additionally, jurisprudence makes a distinction between a frustrated and an attempted felony, viz:
1.) In frustrated felony, the offender has performed all the acts of execution which should produce the felony as a consequence whereas, in attempted felony, the offender merely “commences the commission of a felony directly by overt acts and does not perform all the acts od execution.
2.) In frustrated felony, the reason for the non-accomplishment of the crime is some cause independent of the will of the perpetrator; on the other hand, in attempted felony, the reason for the non-fulfillment of the crime is a cause of accident other than the offender’s own spontaneous desistance.
In addition to these distinctions, we have ruled in several cases that when the accused intended to kill his victim, as manifested by his use of a deadly weapon in his assault, and his victim sustained fatal or mortal wounds but did not die because of timely medical assistance, the crime committed is frustrated murder or frustrated homicide depending on whether or not any of the qualifying circumstances under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code are present, However, if the wound/s sustained by the victim in such a case were not fatal or mortal, then the crime committed is only attempted murder or attempted homicide. If there was no intent to kill on the part of the accused and and the wound/s sustained by the victim were not fatal; the crime committed may be serious, less serious or slight physical injury.
Thus, in order to determine whether the crime committed is attempted or frustrated parricide, murder or homicide, on only lesiones (physical injuries), the crucial points to consider are: a) whether the injury sustained by the victim was fatal; and b) whether there was intent to kill on the part of the accused.”[1] (Citations omitted)
[1] People v. Pilen, G.R. No. 254875, February 13, 2023