Case Digest (G.R. No. 121683)
Facts:
Cornelio B. Bautista v. The Honorable Court of Appeals; and The People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 121683, March 26, 1998, Supreme Court Third Division, Romero, J., writing for the Court.On the night of March 6, 1987, Lt. Franklin Garfin (a police officer) was shot and later pronounced dead at the Manila Sanitarium Hospital after an incident near the heavily guarded Lopa Compound in Pasay City; his companion Cpl. Cesar Garcia escaped unharmed, while the suspected felon they were pursuing, Joseph Williamson Dizon, was also shot. On March 7, 1987, petitioner Cornelio Bautista, a security guard on duty at the Lopa Compound, was criminally charged with murder, attempted murder and frustrated murder; the informations were consolidated for joint trial.
At trial before the Regional Trial Court, Pasay City, Branch 115 (Judge Sergio I. Amonoy), the prosecution presented the eyewitness testimony of Cpl. Garcia, who identified petitioner as the shooter on three occasions (in a sworn statement and at two trial dates), plus physical evidence: an autopsy attributing death to shotgun wounds, an NBI ballistics report matching pellets recovered from Lt. Garfin to test shells from petitioner’s shotgun, and a paraffin (nitrate) test positive only on petitioner. Petitioner denied leaving the compound and offered an alibi and a corroborating guard’s testimony; he explained the paraffin result by saying he cleaned the firearms that day.
The RTC convicted petitioner of murder under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code, applied the indeterminate sentence law, acquitted him of two counts of frustrated murder, and awarded several monetary damages to the heirs. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction but modified the damages by deleting the awards (decision promulga...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Does the affidavit of desistance executed by Lt. Garfin’s widow operate to extinguish the criminal liability of the accused or otherwise compel dismissal of the criminal prosecution?
- Was the conviction for murder supported by sufficient evidence, including whether the eyewitness identification, ballistics, paraffin test, and attendant circumstances establish guilt beyond ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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