Subjective Phase and Objective Phase

Function of the Phase Distinction

The stages of execution under Article 6 of the Revised Penal Code are determined by comparing the offender's external acts with the legal elements of the intended felony. The subjective and objective phases explain where the execution stopped, why the felony was not produced, and whether the felony is attempted, frustrated, or consummated.

The subjective phase is the portion of execution during which the offender is still performing the acts that he considers necessary to accomplish the felony. It begins only when the offender has commenced the commission of the felony directly by overt acts, and it ends when he has performed everything that, according to his criminal design, he must personally do to produce the felony.

The objective phase is the portion that follows the completion of all intended acts of execution. It asks whether those completed acts actually produced all the elements of the felony, or whether the felony failed because of a cause independent of the offender's will.

The distinction is not a matter of labels. It controls criminal liability because an offender who is stopped before completing the subjective phase may be liable only for an attempted felony, while an offender who has already passed the subjective phase may be liable for a frustrated felony if the felony is not produced, or for a consummated felony if all elements are present.

Subjective Phase

The subjective phase is measured from the offender's standpoint, but it is proved through objective facts. The inquiry is whether, by his own plan and by the means he chose, the offender had already done all the acts of execution he intended to perform.

Because the law punishes acts and not mere thoughts, the subjective phase does not begin with motive, desire, planning, surveillance, acquisition of tools, or mental resolution. It begins only when there is an overt act directly connected with the felony intended, so that the act naturally and logically indicates the start of execution rather than mere preparation.

• Before the subjective phase begins, the conduct is generally preparatory. It is not an attempted felony unless a special law or a specific provision separately punishes the preparatory conduct, such as unlawful possession, conspiracy, proposal, or another independent offense.
• While the subjective phase is continuing, the offender has started execution but has not yet done everything he meant to do. If he is interrupted by the victim, by third persons, by arrest, by accident, by resistance, by lack of opportunity, or by another cause other than his own spontaneous desistance, the felony is in the attempted stage.
• When the subjective phase is passed, the offender has exhausted the acts that he intended to perform. The legal focus shifts to whether the felony was produced, because the remaining issue is no longer his personal execution but the effect of his completed acts.

The subjective phase is therefore decisive in separating attempt from frustration. An attempted felony exists when the offender has not yet performed all acts of execution; a frustrated felony presupposes that he has performed all such acts.

The offender's own statement that he was finished is not controlling. Courts infer the completion or non-completion of the subjective phase from the weapon used, the manner of attack, the distance from the victim, the number and location of blows or shots, the words spoken during the act, the opportunity to continue, the intervention that occurred, and the nature of the felony charged.

Spontaneous desistance has significance only before the offender has completed the acts of execution. If the offender freely and voluntarily stops while he still has the power to continue, he is not liable for an attempted felony, although he remains liable for any separate felony already committed by the acts performed. If he stops because of fear of discovery, resistance, malfunction, lack of ammunition, intervention, or another external cause, the desistance is not spontaneous in the legal sense.

Once the subjective phase has been passed, later regret does not erase the execution already completed. Subsequent conduct may affect the factual result, the offense actually proved, civil liability, or mitigation where legally available, but it does not convert completed acts of execution into mere preparation.

Objective Phase

The objective phase begins after the offender has performed all acts that should produce the felony as a natural consequence. The inquiry is objective because it depends on the legal definition of the felony and on the facts that actually occurred, not merely on what the offender hoped to achieve.

If the completed acts produce all elements necessary for execution and accomplishment, the felony is consummated. If the completed acts would ordinarily produce the felony but the felony is not produced because of a cause independent of the offender's will, the felony is frustrated, provided that the offense legally admits of a frustrated stage.

The phrase all acts of execution does not mean every act connected with the offender's ultimate purpose. It means all acts legally necessary to bring about the felony defined by law. Thus, the offender's desired profit, escape, concealment, or later enjoyment of the proceeds is not part of the objective phase unless the law makes that matter an element of the offense.

The objective phase may fail because of medical intervention, rescue, timely discovery, resistance after the decisive acts have been done, the victim's survival, failure of the expected physical effect, or another supervening cause independent of the offender's will. The cause must operate after the offender has already completed the acts of execution; otherwise, the case remains in the attempted stage.

A frustrated felony is possible only when the law separates the execution of the offender's acts from the accomplishment of the prohibited result. Where the definition of the felony makes the prohibited act itself the accomplishment of the offense, there is ordinarily no frustrated stage because the objective phase is completed at the same moment the act is done.

Relation to Attempted, Frustrated, and Consummated Felonies

Attempted felony requires a direct commencement of the intended felony. The overt act must be external, positive, and sufficiently proximate to the felony, so that it reveals the offender's criminal purpose without relying on speculation. An act that is equivocal or remote remains preparation even if accompanied by criminal intent.

Frustrated felony requires more than a serious attempt. The offender must have performed every act of execution that should produce the felony. If there remains an essential act that the offender still intended or needed to do, the subjective phase has not ended and the felony cannot be frustrated.

Consummated felony depends on the statutory definition of the offense. A felony is consummated when every element required by law exists, even if the offender has not achieved his broader motive or has not enjoyed the full benefit of the crime.

Direct Overt Acts and Preparatory Acts

The beginning of the subjective phase depends on the presence of direct overt acts. An overt act is direct when it has an immediate relation to the felony intended and forms part of the actual execution of that felony. The act must go beyond arranging the scene, acquiring means, selecting the victim, or positioning oneself to act later.

Preparation is usually compatible with lawful or unlawful purposes, while execution is ordinarily explainable only by the intended felony. Buying poison, carrying a weapon, following a victim, or waiting near a location may be suspicious, but the subjective phase begins only when the offender uses the poison, attacks with the weapon, enters into the act of taking, or otherwise performs conduct that directly starts the felony.

The line between preparation and execution is drawn from the entire setting. Proximity to the victim, immediacy of danger, possession and use of the chosen means, unequivocal movement toward the criminal objective, and lack of further preparatory steps may show that the subjective phase has begun.

Offenses That Do Not Admit All Stages

The existence of subjective and objective phases must always be applied to the particular felony charged. Not every felony has attempted, frustrated, and consummated stages.

Crimes of mere activity, possession, status, or formal commission are commonly consummated by the very act prohibited by law. When the law punishes the doing of the act itself and does not require a separate harmful result, the objective phase may be completed immediately, leaving no room for frustration.

Theft is consummated upon unlawful taking, because taking or apoderamiento is the element that completes the offense. The offender need not dispose of, sell, hide, or permanently enjoy the property. Failure to remove the property from the premises or to profit from it does not create a frustrated stage if unlawful taking has already occurred.

Rape is consummated by the legally required sexual act, even if the contact is slight and even if the offender does not complete his further sexual purpose. If the offender begins execution with intent to commit rape but is stopped before the act that consummates rape occurs, liability may be for attempted rape or another offense proved by the acts done.

Homicide and murder ordinarily allow the phase distinction because the offender's acts of attack can be separated from the result of death. If intent to kill is present but the offender is stopped before inflicting a mortal wound or before performing all acts he intended to cause death, the felony is attempted. If he inflicts mortal wounds or performs all acts sufficient to cause death but the victim survives due to causes independent of his will, the felony is frustrated. If death results, the felony is consummated.

Physical injuries should not be treated as a lesser stage of homicide or murder unless intent to kill is proved. The stage analysis presupposes the felony intended. Without intent to kill, wounds inflicted are assessed under the offenses actually defined by the injuries caused, not as attempted or frustrated homicide.

Intent, Impossibility, and Legal Definition

The subjective phase is important only for intentional felonies. Culpable felonies by negligence generally do not have attempted or frustrated stages because the offender does not intend the felony and liability is based on the harmful result produced by imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight, or lack of skill.

Intent is relevant to identify the felony attempted or frustrated, but intent alone cannot create a stage of execution. The acts must correspond to the elements of the felony charged. A person may intend to kill, steal, burn, or defraud, but the stage depends on how far the external acts have advanced under the legal definition of that offense.

Where the offender has done all that he intended but the intended felony could not be produced because of inherent impossibility or inadequate means, the analysis may move away from frustration. A frustrated felony assumes that the completed acts would ordinarily produce the felony and that nonproduction resulted from an independent cause. If the felony could never have been produced under the circumstances, liability may instead depend on the rules on impossible crimes or on another offense actually committed.

The offender's ultimate objective is not always the felony's legal objective. In property crimes, the law may consummate the offense upon taking or damage even if the offender's expected gain is not realized. In crimes against persons, the law may require death, injury, restraint, or another defined result. The objective phase must therefore be tied to the elements of the offense, not to the offender's personal measure of success.

Practical Operation of the Phases

The phase analysis proceeds in a fixed order. First, identify the felony intended from the acts and surrounding circumstances. Second, determine the act that begins direct execution. Third, determine whether the offender had already performed all acts of execution. Fourth, determine whether all elements of the felony were produced. This order prevents confusing preparation with attempt, attempt with frustration, and frustration with consummation.

If the offender is interrupted before completing the acts he intended to perform, the interruption ends the subjective phase prematurely and the felony is attempted. If he has already done all acts necessary to produce the felony but the result is prevented by an independent cause, the subjective phase is complete and the objective phase fails, producing frustration where the felony admits it. If the result or all legal elements occur, both phases are complete and the felony is consummated.

The same physical act may have different legal effects depending on the offense. A single shot that misses may be attempted homicide or murder if intent to kill is shown, but it may be a different offense if intent to kill is absent. A taking that is immediately discovered may still consummate theft because the element of unlawful taking has occurred. A wound that is not mortal may show attempted killing if intent to kill is clear, but it does not by itself show frustration because not all acts sufficient to cause death were completed.

The subjective and objective phases ultimately discipline the analysis of criminal liability. The subjective phase asks whether the offender has finished his execution; the objective phase asks whether the law's required result or elements have been completed. Their combined operation gives Article 6 its working structure.