Prado v. People

Summary

Virginia B. Prado was charged with bigamy for contracting a second marriage in Saigon while still married to her first husband. She filed a civil action for annulment of the second marriage claiming her consent was obtained by force and intimidation, then moved to suspend the criminal trial citing a prejudicial question. The trial court denied suspension, but the Supreme Court reversed, holding that the three requisites for a prejudicial question were present. The Court ruled that the civil annulment case involves facts intimately related to the criminal case, and its resolution would necessarily determine the accused's guilt or innocence. The criminal proceedings were ordered suspended until final determination of the annulment case, protecting petitioner's right to prove her grounds for annulment which could be determinative of her criminal liability.