G.R. No. 103119 - Intod vs. Court of Appeals

Sulpicio Intod (Petitioner), Jorge Pangasian, Santos Tubio and Avelino Daligdig conspired with Aniceto Dumalagan, who sought the killing of Bernardina Palangpangan over a land dispute in Katugasan, Lopez Jaena, Misamis Occidental.
Dumalagan threatened Salvador Mandaya—whom Intod and his companions had recruited to accompany them—to join the plot or face death himself.

On the night of February 4, 1979, at about 10:00 PM, the five men, all armed, arrived at Palangpangan’s house. Mandaya pointed out the victim’s bedroom.
Intod, Pangasian, Tubio and Daligdig fired multiple shots into the room. Unknown to them, Palangpangan was in another city; her daughter’s family occupied the house. No one was hit.

Witnesses positively identified the assailants and testified that before leaving they shouted threats to kill Palangpangan and any witness.
The Regional Trial Court convicted Intod for attempted murder; the Court of Appeals affirmed. Intod elevated the case to the Supreme Court, invoking Article 4(2) of the Revised Penal Code on impossible crimes.

Whether Intod’s act of firing at an unoccupied room constitutes attempted murder or an impossible crime under Article 4(2) of the Revised Penal Code.
Whether the absence of the victim renders the intended homicide inherently impossible, thus invoking the penalty for impossible crimes rather than for attempted felonies.