Principle of criminal conspiracy
In People v. Nelmida (G.R. No. 184500, September 11, 2012), the Supreme Court explained elaborated on the principle of criminal conspiracy and its ramifications in this manner:
There is conspiracy when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of a felony and then decide to commit it.[1] It arises on the very instant the plotters agree, expressly or impliedly, to commit the felony and forthwith decide to pursue it. Once established, each and every one of the conspirators is made criminally liable for the crime actually committed by any one of them. In the absence of any direct proof, the agreement to commit a crime may be deduced from the mode and manner of the commission of the offense or inferred from acts that point to a joint purpose and design, concerted action, and community of interest. As such, it does not matter who inflicted the mortal wound, as each of the actors incurs the same criminal liability, because the act of one is the act of all. (Citation and emphasis omitted.)
