DEMURRER TO EVIDENCE  Judgment based on a compromise agreement

- Final and executory at the time it was rendered

Criminal Case vs Civil Case
CRIMINAL CASE = motion to acquit
WITH Leave of Court
Always necessary
When? After prosecution
has rested its case. (orally or
in open Court)
If granted: file demurrer to
evidence
If Granted: Acquittal- always final
If Denied Accused will be made to
present evidence
Remedy (e.g when a party was coerced to file the compromise
agreement) Petition for relief of judgment or annulment of
judgment
NO Leave of Court
 Can be availed of only after finality of judgment
No permission was asked
from the Court
Judgment
- Court’s final say on the issues submitted before it
Instead of presenting - Resolution of the case submitted before it.
evidence, filed demurrer to
evidence Requirements:
Acquittal 1. Must be in writing
Accused can NO longer 2. PERSONALLY prepared by the judge
present evidence

The case will be submitted PARTS:

for decision based on the 1. Body
prosecution’s evidence alone.
a. Facts- so parties will be guided
b. Law on which the judgment is based
CIVIL CASE= motion to dismiss on the ground of insufficiency of 2. Dispositive Portion
evidence a. Wherefore part
No leave of Court is Necessary b. The judgment itself- to be implemented
File Demurrer to evidence after the plaintiff has presented his evidence
Granted Denied What if there is a conflict between the body and the dispositive portion?
Case will be dismissed Defendant will be made to The dispositive portion shall prevail unless there is a glaring error
Final Order present evidence that the body is correct.
 Call the attention of the Court thru a Motion for clarificatory
Remedy of the plaintiff if case is dismissed: Appeal judgment.
If the order of dismissal is affirmed If the order of dismissal is reversed
The case remains dismissed Tantamount to denial of the demurrer to
evidence
Kinds of Judgment
Case will be decided based on the plaintiff’s
evidence alone (based on the merits) by the 1. Judgment with Trial
appellate Court  Trial on the merits
Judgment will be rendered after presentation of all evidences by
Defendant can no longer present evidence plaintiff and defendant.
 There can also be trial on the merits even if there is
demurrer to evidence because even if it is granted, there
JUDGMENT (DECISION) was already a trial when the plaintiff presented his evidence.
More often than not, judgment usually emanates from the Supreme Court
 Final and executory  Judgment by default
 Judgment is to be implemented/ executed when plaintiff presents his evidence ex-parte, there is trial.
Decision is not yet final because there is still a remedy of appeal
o In what cases is the term JUDGMENT used in the RTC? 2. Judgment without trial.
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  Judgment by default o It means that as far as each party is concerned, the date of
If the Court considers that allegations in the finality is different
complaint are sufficient to warrant judgment, the case can plaintiff defendant
be submitted for decision even without presentation of Received 3 October 10 October
evidence ex parte. Reglementary period 15 days 15 days
Drawback: However, no unliquidated damages can Final and executory 18 October 25 October
be awarded. On October 17, can P file MR / appeal? Yes
 Judgment on the pleadings On October 20, can D file MNT? Yes
If the Answer tenders no more issue, plaintiff may On October 20, can P file MR? no (beyond october 18)
file a motion for judgment on the pleadings. If granted, On October 20, can D file MR? yes
there is already a judgment. The decision is based on the However,
complaint and the answer.  There should be a date of finality in each decision for purposes of
 Judgment based on a compromise implementation or execution
Either entered into during mediation or during JDR  How to reckon the date of finality?
Final and executory right away o It depends on who is the last party to receive.
 Summary Judgment
Happens after pre-trial; parties are required to submit If the plaintiff wins, can he file a motion for execution on 24
their respective petition papers and thus considered October? No, he cannot because the defendant is not yet done
submitted for decision. with his 15-day period.

After decision has been made, how does the Court serve a copy?
 A copy of the decision is always served to the lawyer.
o Service to lawyer is service to client but service to
client is not service to lawyer
How served?
1. Personally to the lawyers’ offices through an employee called the
PROCESS SERVER
- All lawyers who received a copy must sign an acknowledgment
receipt which is pasted at the back of the decision or the order
which they received.
2. For those who are far: through registered mail, because all Courts
has a Franking Privilege (free use of the post office)
- Attach the registry return receipt at the back of the decision
 Name of the recipient
 Date it was received
Every decision becomes FINAL and EXECUTORY 15 days from receipt.
If remedies were not availed of within the 15-day reglementary
period, decision becomes final and executory.
Thus, the decision can already be implemented.
In the example above,
can the defendant appeal on 25 October? Yes
can the plaintiff appeal on 26 October? No
can the plaintiff appeal on 26 October? No
Therefore, the date of finality is 26 OCTOBER.
Judgment must be entered in a judgment book
Date of entry- date when the clerk sits down and enters judgment in the
judgment book.
 Dispositive portion only
Why do we need to know the date of finality and the date of entry?
Before (old rule):
There are remedies which could be reckoned based on the date of
finality and the date of entry.
Now:
Date of Finality is the Date of Entry
Date of entry is the date of finality
Date of entry was physically entered on November 3, however, October 26
shall still be placed because it is the date of finality.

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 a. Fraud, Accident, Mistake, Excusable Negligence
The moment the decision becomes final (it is now a judgment), the  Must be accompanied with affidavit of merits
clerk of court issues a Certificate of Finality which can be used by the  Such same ground used in a motion to lift order of default
winning party when he files a motion for execution. can no longer be used as a ground in the motion for new
trial,
What are the remedies available before finality / within the 15 day
reglementary period? If denied:
1. Motion for Reconsideration Remedy: Appeal the decision and aver the denial of the Motion for
 Litigated motion New Trial as an error.
The 3-day notice rule and 10-day hearing rule must be complied
with How many days will be given?
o The notice of hearing must be addressed to the adverse  Fresh period of 15 days is given to file the appeal.
party’s counsel.
 Both plaintiff and defendant can file their respective motion If granted:
for reconsideration Back to 0
Grounds: The decision is vacated-> back to trial
1. Award for damages is excessive or insufficient; o Evidence not presented will be presented
2. Misappreciation of evidence by the Court; o A new decision will be rendered
3. Decision is not in accordance with the rules;
4. Decision is contrary to law, Etc. b. Newly Discovered Evidence
o In effect, is asking the Court to look again at its decision  Evidence existing all along but could not be found despite
and to change it (reconsider) diligent efforts to locate the same. When it was found, trial
 Motion will be submitted for resolution is already over.
Resolution can lead to
Denial Grant What to allege?
Decision stands Decision will be modified 1). That the newly discovered evidence was existing all along;
Losing party can appeal, Losing party can appeal, 2). That it was Lost but was found; and
 15- day  NEW 15 3). That if you were allowed to present the evidence, the
FRESH days decision will be altered.
PERIOD Because there is a new
decision  Refusal to testify and the sudden change of mind is NOT
When a motion is denied, will a party be allowed to file a second tantamount to a newly discovered evidence.
mr? No Problem:
 There is no such thing as SECOND motion for Plaintiff and Defendant both filed a Motion for Reconsideration. It
reconsideration was partially granted in favor of the plaintiff. So there is a modified decision.
 Instead of filing a motion for reconsideration, appeal The defendant filed a motion for reconsideration of the modified decision.
can also be made outright. According to the defendant, the 2nd MR is for the modified decision, what he
asked to reconsider (1st MR)was the old decision. Is the defendant correct?
2. Motion for New Trial No. it is still the same as a second motion for reconsideration.
 Litigated Motion Although the decision only partially granted the motion for
 when a party was deprived of presenting evidence reconsideration of the plaintiff, there is only one case filed. That is
Grounds: why there is a remedy of appeal.

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  You cannot change your theory on appeal
 A second motion for new trial is allowed provided that the
ground in the second motion is not the same as the ground used in e.g.
the first motion for new trial. Theory of the case of the defendant(in the lower court):
The plaintiff will not be able to recover this parcel of land from
If one party files a motion for reconsideration and the other a me because I inherited this from my parent. The real property is
motion for new trial, what should the court resolve first? within our family.
 The Court should first resolve the motion for new trial because it The plaintiff won and the defendant was directed to turn over
will go back to square one. the property.
The defendant appealed and his theory on appeal was that the
3. Appeal plaintiff cannot recover the same property because his parents
 Asking the appellate Court to look at the case again bought it (sale).
 It is a statutory right granted by the rules and NEVER a  This is not allowed because when you appeal, you are asking the
matter of right. appellate Court to look at the lower court’s decision one more time.
o Therefore, the period within which to appeal should
strictly be followed (15 days)
 A motion for extension to file an appeal is NOT AVAILABLE. Modes of Appeal
o It is tantamount to extending the period to appeal which is a. Ordinary Appeal
fixed by the rules. What do you need?
 A notice of appeal must be prepared
 Only the parties to the case can appeal
Illustrative Example: When to use the ordinary appeal?
A. . Plaintiff(P) filed a case against defendant(D) for damages.  case emanating from MTC should be appealed to the RTC
D is covered by an insurance.  case emanating from the RTC should be appealed to the CA
D, however, did not file a 3rd party complaint against the insurance
company. A decision was rendered in favor of P and directed D to
pay. D did not appeal. MTC RTC
The interested party is the insurance company. Can the | OA |
insurance company appeal?
No. because it is not a party to the case. RTC CA
B. The decision became final and executory. P asked for a writ of execution which
was granted. D made a manifestation stating that he was covered by an indemnity
agreement with the insurance company and asked that the writ be directed to the
latter. The Court issued an order stating that the writ of execution be now made
against the insurance company. The moment a notice of appeal is submitted to the Court within the
This time, can the insurance company appeal? Yes. 15-day period, what should the Court’s action be?
What will it appeal, the decision or the order?
The order. Because the insurance company was made part of the
order.

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 Appeal  The motion for reconsideration shall be acted upon first as it is still
Give due course Not give due course within the Court’s jurisdiction. It is still within the 15- day period of the
movant to file a motion for reconsideration. After acting upon the MR,
Always given provided it is filed When filed outside the 15- day the Court can give due course on the notice of appeal.
within the reglementary period period  The Court should wait for the last day of the 15-day period of the other
party before acting on the notice of appeal.
The Court issues an order stating o Court can give due course even beyond the 15- day period by
that “As the notice of appeal has been waiting for the period to file the MR or MNT of the other party to
filed within the reglementary period, lapse.
the Court gives it due course. Let the
entire records of the case be forwarded How the title should look like in the appeal:
to the RTC (or CA) for purposes of
appeal.” PXY,
Plaintiff- Appellee
The moment the Court gives due vs
course to the appeal, the Court ABD,
loses jurisdiction but not Defendant- Appellant
completely .
 Include who is appealing and against whom the appeal is made
 Motion for reconsideration and motion for new trial are remedies acted
upon by the trial court
Residual Jurisdiction
 Appeal is a remedy acted upon by the appellate Court and not the trial
- The Court loses jurisdiction but not completely because it still has
court.
the records.
Role of trial court in appeal: only to give it due course.
- The Court can still act on motion for execution pending appeal or
motion to withdraw appeal.
What will the trial court do after it gives due course?
The Trial Court shall transmit the records to the appellate Court.
However, when ALL the records have been forwarded, the Court loses its
(gather and make sure that the records are intact)
entire jurisdiction even its residual jurisdiction..
a. Prepare a table of contents of the records, even the page of the
 If a motion for execution pending appeal was filed after forwarding
location of envelopes (those received by the Court through
all the records, the motion shall also be forwarded to the appellate
registered mail).
Court.
b. MTC to RTC : 1 set of transcript of stenographic notes
RTC to CA: 3 sets of stenographic notes.
 When notice of appeal is filed, appellant should pay the docket fees.
Why? Because there are 3 justices in each division. Each justice
Where to pay?
must have a copy.
1. MTC to RTC -> MTC
c. The list of exhibits of the plaintiff and defendant
2. RTC to CA -> RTC
What if there is a notice of appeal and a motion for reconsideration and both  Attach receipt to the notice of appeal
were filed within the 15- day reglementary period? How will the Court
resolve that?

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