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PEOPLE Vs. Michael Charles B. Herrick

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MICHAEL CHARLES HERRICK y BECK, accused-appellant.

G.R. No. 85137 | 1990-07-12

D E C I S I O N


SARMIENTO, J.:

Rape is a very emotional word, and the natural human reactions to it are categorical: admiration and sympathy for the courageous female publicly seeking retribution for her outrageous violation, and condemnation of the
rapist.

However, being interpreters of the law and dispensers of justice, we must look at a rape charge without those proclivities, and deal with it with extreme caution and circumspection.

First, we must free ourselves of the natural tendency to be overprotective of every woman decrying her having been sexually abused, and demanding punishment for the abuser. We are cognizant of the...