Article 20. Accessories who are exempt from criminal liability. — The penalties prescribed for accessories shall not be imposed upon those who are such with respect to their spouses, ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural, and adopted brothers and sisters, or relatives by affinity within the same degrees, with the single exemption of accessories falling within the provisions of paragraph 1 of the next preceding article. (Revised Penal Code)

 Who are accessories exempt from criminal liability?

They are the offender's

1.  Spouse
2.  Ascendants
3.  Descendants
4.  Legitimate, natural and adopted brothers and sisters
5.  Relatives by affinity within the same degrees  (S-A-D-BROS-A)

Note: Nephew or niece not included
For what acts are they exempt from liability? 

 They are exempt from liability if they assist the principal by:


1. By concealing or destroying the body of the crime or the effects or instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery;

2. By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principal of the crime, provided that the accessory acts with the abuse of his public functions or whenever the author of the crime is guilty with treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt to take the life of the Chief Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime.


 Note: The offender to be assisted  must be a principal; assisting an accomplice to escape is not included. 


Why are they exempt?

● When the relatives assist the principal by concealing or destroying the body of the crime or by assisting in the escape of the principal, the law recognizes that they are doing so because they are motivated by their natural affection for the offender. (Boado, Notes and Cases on the Revised Penal Code)

● It is based on ties of blood and the preservation of the cleanliness of one's name, which compels one to conceal crimes committed by relatives. (People vs. Mariano, G.R. No.134847. December 6, 2000) 


When are these relatives not exempt from liability?

The relatives are not exempt from liability if they profit or assist the offender to profit from the effects of the crime. 

Reason: The law believes that they are doing so because of greed and not because of filial affection. They are prompted not by affection but by a detestable greed.


 Questions:
1. Suppose a husband conceals the property stolen by his wife in order to profit from it later, is he liable as accessory?

2. Suppose A, who committed parricide by killing his wife, went to his adopter brother to hide in the latter's house and his adopted brother hid A because he gave his adopted brother P 1,000.00, is the adopted brother an accessory? Is he criminally liable?

3. Suppose X is a public officer who, with evident abuse of his office, furnished the means of escape to his brother who had committed murder criminally liable as accessory?
Answers:

1. Yes, it would seem that he may be held liable as accessory, because his said act is prompted not by affection but by a detestable greed. In that case, his purpose in concealing the stolen property is not to prevent the discovery of the crime.

2. The adopted brother is an accessory, because knowing that A committed parricide, he harbored and concealed him. But he is not criminally liable, because he did not profit by the effects of the crime. The P1,000.00 received by him from A was not the effect of the crime of parricide.

3. No. The public officer does not incur any criminal liability. Ties of blood or relationship constitutes a more powerful incentive than the call of duty. (Source: skinnycases.blogspot.com)

People vs. Mariano

Since her act of driving the car where the corpse of Michelle was hidden, her resistance to stop the car when chased by the police and to immediately open the luggage compartment as requested by the police, her act of lying to the police by claiming that the box in the compartment contained only dirty clothes, and her refusal to open said box sufficiently indicate knowledge of the crime and assistance to Ruth Mariano in concealing the corpus delicti to prevent its discovery.

Accused-appellant Ruby Mariano is the sister of accused-appellant Ruth Mariano. As such, their relationship exempts appellant Ruby Mariano from criminal liability under Art. 20 of The Revised Penal Code. (People vs. Mariano, G.R. No.134847. December 6, 2000)