Case Digest (G.R. No. 139692)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Jessielito Badajos y Sumbidan alias Toto and Fretchie Sanchez y Amparo, G.R. No. 139692, January 15, 2004, Supreme Court Second Division, Callejo, Sr., J., writing for the Court.The prosecution filed an Information on September 8, 1997 charging Jessielito Badajos and Fretchie Sanchez y Amparo with murder for the fatal shooting of Alfredo Donque on July 21, 1997 at Purok II, Barangay Los Angeles, Butuan City. Badajos was arraigned on November 12, 1997 and pleaded not guilty; Sanchez remained at large. The Information alleged conspiracy, superior strength and treachery as qualifying circumstances.
At trial the prosecution’s principal eyewitness was 14‑year‑old Rodolfo Matinig, an out‑of‑school youth employed as caretaker at the duck farm where the killing occurred. Matinig testified that he and Donque were in a small hut when Badajos, Sanchez and Jerry Lamosao arrived; after a first departure the three returned, with Badajos armed, and Matinig claimed he saw Badajos shoot Donque four times. Matinig said Badajos then pointed the gun at him until Sanchez wrested it away; Matinig fled and informed locals. The medico‑legal evidence (Dr. Jesus Chin Chiu) showed entrance wounds and a recovered slug; cause of death was shock due to gunshot wound. Photographs of the body were admitted.
Badajos denied firing the shots and testified that Sanchez was the shooter; he described drinking with Sanchez and Lamosao earlier that evening and said he was some meters away when Sanchez pulled Donque out of the hut and shot him. Defense witness Carlito Dumas corroborated parts of this narrative, stating he was at Donque’s hut to pick up eggs and that the appellant was standing about eight meters away when Sanchez shot Donque. Lamosao, named in the Information, was not produced by the prosecution.
The Regional Trial Court, Branch 4, Butuan City (decision penned by Judge Cipriano B. Alvizo, Jr.) convicted Badajos of murder, sentenced him to reclusion perpetua, ordered various damages to the heirs, and dismissed the case against Sanchez for lack of evidence. On appeal to the Supreme Court (appeal from ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the appellant proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt of murder?
- Was treachery established as a qualifying circumstance?
- Could the use of an unlicensed firearm be considered as a special aggravating circumstance despite no allegation to that effect in the Information?
- Was the appellant entitled to the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender?
- Were the awards of civil, moral, actual, temperate and exemplary ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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