Case Digest (G.R. No. L-29210)
Case Digest (G.R. No. L-29210)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Freddie Brana, G.R. No. L-29210, October 31, 1969, the Supreme Court En Banc, Reyes, J.B.L., J., writing for the Court.The criminal action arose from the killing on the morning of January 6, 1967, of 19‑year‑old Corazon Tabano at her home, 178‑A Magdalo Street, La Paz, Iloilo City. The victim was found by her mother bleeding from several stab wounds and died shortly after arrival at St. Paul’s Hospital. The autopsy (Exhibit “A”) described five stab wounds penetrating vital organs, and certified cause of death as shock due to hemorrhage from stab wounds. Freddie Brana (the accused), a student, was indicted for murder qualified by evident premeditation and abuse of superior strength, attended by aggravating circumstances of disregard to sex and commission in the victim’s dwelling.
At trial the prosecution presented the victim’s mother, Concepcion Tabano, who testified she saw the accused stab the victim repeatedly, heard the accused say, “So, you don't want me? I better kill you,” and related subsequent threats from outside the room. Rafaela Fortaleza, a cousin of the deceased and former co‑boarder, testified that she knew the accused and the deceased as having a prior relationship and that on two occasions, the last on January 5, 1967, the deceased told her the accused had threatened to kill her if she accepted other suitors. Police witnesses testified the accused, brought to a hospital on January 6, said he had stabbed himself after stabbing a woman; a blood‑stained knife (Exhibit “B”) was recovered.
The defense offered witnesses to show a continued romantic relationship between accused and victim (aunt Maria Luz Lauro and sister Delia Brana) and elicited the accused’s own testimony that they had been sweethearts, that an altercation occurred in which the victim allegedly stabbed him first, and that he, in a confused struggle, wrested the knife and stabbed her. The accused further testified that he later voluntarily presented himself to the police through counsel Quirico Defensor on March 31, 1967.
On April 15, 1968, the Court of First Instance of Iloilo convicted Brana of murder with the aggravating circumstances of commission in the dwelling and insult or disregard of respect due the offended party on account of her sex, and sentenced him to death. Because of the death sentence the case came to the Supreme Court by automatic review.
Issues:
- Was the killing qualified by evident premeditation?
- Was there abuse of superior strength, rendering the killing murder?
- Did the killing attract the aggravating circumstance of insult or disregard of the respect due the victim’s sex?
- Were the asserted mitigating circumstances — sufficient provocation, lack of intent to commit so grave a wrong, and voluntary surrender — established?
- What is the proper penalty in view of the proven aggravating and mitigating circumstances?
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)