Case Digest (G.R. No. L-57025)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Alberto Arsenio y dela Cruz, Eduardo Desaville y Medallo and Rogelio Berame y Reyes, G.R. No. 57025, April 06, 1990, Supreme Court Second Division, Paras, J., writing for the Court.An information dated November 23, 1978 charged Alberto Arsenio, Eduardo Desaville, and Rogelio Berame with the murder of Ramoncito Alonzo allegedly committed on or about November 21, 1978 in the City of Manila. All three entered not guilty pleas. At a hearing on September 27, 1979, Rogelio Berame sought to withdraw his not-guilty plea and pleaded guilty; the trial court accepted the plea, imposed a partial judgment sentencing him to six months and one day to six years prision correccional (civil liability reserved), and proceeded to try the two remaining accused.
Trial in the Circuit Criminal Court of Manila (Sixth Judicial District) proceeded against Arsenio and Desaville. The prosecution presented four witnesses: Dr. Marcial Cenido (medical), Sonny Salientes (a fellow detainee/trustee and purported eyewitness), and two policemen, Pfc. Rodolfo Jalandra and Pfc. Eliseo Canares. The prosecution introduced extrajudicial statements by the accused—Exhibit J (Arsenio), Exhibit N (Desaville) and Exhibit O (Berame)—and testimony recounting that the three were identified and arrested immediately after the stabbing and that the accused admitted participation. In their defense, Arsenio and Desaville denied participation and later repudiated the voluntariness of their written statements, alleging force and intimidation by police; Desaville testified he signed only because of maltreatment, while Arsenio claimed he was beaten and made to sign.
On April 24, 1981, the trial court found Arsenio and Desaville guilty beyond reasonable doubt of murder qualified by treachery and aggravated by evident premeditation, sentenced them to death, and ordered them, jointly and solidarily with Berame, to indemnify the heirs P12,000.00. Berame’s prior guilty plea had produced his separate sentence. Because the trial court imposed death, the case came to the Supreme Court on automatic review.
Following the 1987 Constitution’s abolition of the death penalty (and commutation of existing death sentences to reclusion perpetua), the Court on November 16, 1987 required the two remaining appellants to advise whether they wished to pursue appeal; on November 26, 1987 Alberto Arsenio filed a personally signed statement, later confirmed by counsel, withdrawing his appeal and asking recommendation for executive clemency. The Court granted the withdrawal on January 26, 1988 and remanded the records for execution of judgment against Arsenio.
The Supreme Court reviewed whether the trial court erred in admitting (1) the extrajudicial confessions of Arsenio and Desaville (Exhibits J and N) and (2) the extrajudicial statement of Sonny Salientes given to investigators (while the witness repudiated its contents at trial). The Court examined vo...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the trial court err in admitting as evidence the extrajudicial confessions of Alberto Arsenio and Eduardo Desaville (Exhibits J and N), given alleged defects in informing rights and absence of counsel, thereby violating the accuseds’ constitutional rights?
- Did the trial court err in admitting and relying on the extrajudicial statement of prosecution witness Sonny Salientes despite his repudiation of its contents on the stand and in f...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)