Case Digest (G.R. No. 254531)
Facts:
Floro Galorio y Gapas was charged by Information dated September 4, 2006 before RTC-Branch 51 in Carmen, Bohol, with the crime of Homicide under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code. The incident occurred on May 24, 2006 during the coronation night of the barangay fiesta in La Hacienda, Alicia, Bohol. Petitioner, acting as a civilian volunteer, had earlier scolded Christopher Muring for improperly parking his motorcycle. Thereafter, Andres Muring (Christopher’s father) arrived at the program visibly enraged and, without warning, attacked Galorio and his nephews Erik and Rother with a two-foot bolo, inflicting severe wounds including an open fracture of petitioner’s right ring finger and a perforating abdominal injury. Petitioner retreated to his motorcycle toolbox, retrieved a bayonet, returned to the fray, and stabbed Muring in the left lower armpit, causing fatal liver hemorrhage. Muring died two days later at the infirmary. On July 28, 2015, the RTC convicted Galorio of hom
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Case Digest (G.R. No. 254531)
Facts:
- Parties and Procedural History
- Petitioner Floro Galorio y Gapas was charged with homicide under Article 249, RPC, accused of stabbing Andres Muring to death on May 24, 2006 in Alicia, Bohol.
- OPP-Bohol issued a resolution finding probable cause the same day, and Information was filed September 4, 2006.
- RTC Branch 51, Carmen, Bohol arraigned Galorio on January 8, 2007; after multiple pre-trial and trial settings, the court convicted him of homicide on July 28, 2015 and imposed 6 years–1 day to 12 years’ imprisonment.
- CA 20th Division denied his appeal on February 22, 2019 (affirmed with modifications awarding P50,000 civil indemnity and moral damages), and denied reconsideration on August 28, 2020.
- Underlying Facts and Evidence
- Incident: During a fiesta coronation, petitioner scolded victim’s son over a parked motorcycle; victim arrived with a bolo, allegedly threatened (“patay?”) and hacked petitioner and nephews Erik and Rother.
- Petitioner suffered a severed ring finger and abdominal wounds; nephews sustained multiple wounds; petitioner retrieved a bayonet from his motorcycle toolbox and stabbed the victim once in the right lower armpit, causing fatal liver penetration.
- Forensic reports: Death certificate (hypovolemic shock secondary to stab wound); police report and affidavits of eyewitnesses described victim’s initial aggression and petitioner’s defensive reaction.
- Trial and Appellate Findings
- RTC credited prosecution witness Leoncio Cagande’s account that victim bumped into a motorcycle and fell before being stabbed, discounted self-defense theory as lacking detail, and speculated petitioner and relatives were armed and had planned the encounter.
- CA upheld conviction, ruling unlawful aggression ceased when victim fell, and petitioner’s bayonet use was retaliatory, not justifiable self-defense or defense of relative.
Issues:
- Justiciability
- Whether issues raised on certiorari involve purely questions of law or require factual reappraisal.
- Speedy Trial
- Whether petitioner’s right to a speedy disposition under the 1987 Constitution and R.A. 8493 was violated by repeated and unexplained delays.
- Justifying Circumstances
- Whether the elements of defense of a relative (unlawful aggression, reasonable necessity of means, no provocation by defender) were present to acquit petitioner.
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)