Case Digest (G.R. No. 94310)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Virgilio Alay-Ay, G.R. No. 94310, June 30, 1993, the Supreme Court Second Division, Nocon, J., writing for the Court.
The prosecution charged Virgilio Alay-Ay, alias Cot with robbery with homicide for an attack on Felomena Franche on March 22, 1985, allegedly at about 5:30–6:00 a.m. at the store she tended in Dau Homesite, Mabalacat, Pampanga. The information alleged that the accused, with intent to gain and by means of violence, took a Sanyo transistor radio and cash, and on the occasion thereof assaulted the victim with a piece of wood resulting in her death. The Angeles City Regional Trial Court (Crim. Case No. 8525), presided by Judge Reynaldo B. Daway, convicted Alay-Ay of robbery with homicide and sentenced him to life imprisonment and ordered indemnities and damages in June 1990.
At trial, prosecution witnesses included the victim’s daughter Mila Pineda, her nephew Saldy Guela, neighbor Dolores Hipolito Lising, and Natividad dela Cruz. Testimony established that someone was seen beating the victim with a two-foot wooden member; Saldy Guela testified that he saw the assailant’s face, recognized him as “Cot,” and saw him scale the wall while carrying a radio. Natividad dela Cruz testified she saw the accused jump the fence carrying a Sanyo radio. Medical testimony by Dr. Eduardo Buencamino found multiple head fractures consistent with beating and ruled out accidental fall; the victim died at 10:10 a.m. that day.
The accused offered an alibi, claiming he slept at a friend’s house in the same subdivision the night before and left for Bamban, Tarlac, in the morning. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the Solicitor General defended the trial court’s credibility findings and the sufficiency of the evidence identifying Alay-Ay as the assailant. The Supreme Court reviewed the record, upheld the witnesses’ credibility generally but found the prosecution failed to prove the special complex cri...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Should the trial court’s findings on the credibility of prosecution witnesses and identification of the assailant be disturbed on appeal?
- Did the accused prove an alibi that rendered it impossible for him to have been at the crime scene?
- Were the elements of robbery with homicide under Article 294(1) of the Revised Penal Code proved beyond reasonable doubt, or should the killing and the taking be treated as separate crimes?
- What penalties and civil indem...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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