Case Digest (G.R. No. L-2043)
Facts:
The People of the Philippines v. Alejandro Carillo y Almadin et al., G.R. No. L-2043, February 28, 1950, the Supreme Court En Banc, Per Curiam. The prosecution (the People of the Philippines) charged several defendants for a June 4, 1947 nighttime holdup on Pampanga (Aurora) Avenue, Manila, that resulted in the robbery of Marcelino Lontok, Jr. and Emma Foronda‑Abaya, an attempted rape of Emma, and her subsequent death from two gunshots. Appellants on appeal are Alejandro Carillo y Almadin (alias Romy) and Toribio Raquenio y Pitas (alias Frank); Saturnino Macawile was originally charged but later acquitted at trial.On the night alleged, two armed men accosted Lontok and Emma; the men robbed both victims and one assailant led Emma to a vacant lot where he attempted to rape her and, when resisted, shot her twice. Lontok was held at gunpoint and prevented from intervening; he later sought help and found Emma dead. Two empty shells were recovered at the scene.
Police investigation produced a chain linking the stolen Bulova watch to a peddler and thence to a sequence of dealers that led to the identification of “Romy” as Alejandro Carillo. Carillo was located and arrested in Tacloban on June 23, 1947; he gave detailed written statements confessing to the holdup, attempted rape and that he fired two shots at the woman. Ballistic tests later matched a .45‑caliber pistol (Exhibit I) surrendered through intermediaries to the shells found at the scene. After Carillo’s confession implicated “Frank,” detectives arrested Toribio Raquenio, who also gave a signed statement admitting his participation in the robbery and identifying his role in holding Lontok at gunpoint.
At the trial in the Court of First Instance (Judge Felipe Natividad), the prosecution introduced eyewitness testimony (Lontok), the written confessions (Exhibits H, F, E), the ballistics report, re‑enactment photographs, and testimony of witnesses who connected the appellants to the weapons and the disposition of stolen articles. The defense presented denials, allegations that confessions were coerced, a single inmate witness for Carillo claiming maltreatment, and alibi or memory lapses. The trial court found Carillo guilty beyond reasonable doubt of robbery with homicide (and attempted rape) and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua, ordered indemnity and restitution; it found Raquenio guilty of robbery with violence and intimidation and imposed an indeterminate sentence in the prision correccional–prision mayor range, ordering indemnity; Macawile was acquitted.
Carillo an...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the evidence, direct and circumstantial, sufficient to convict Alejandro Carillo and Toribio Raquenio of the crimes charged?
- Were the penalties imposed by the trial court appropriate, or should they be modified (including the Solicitor General’s recommendation of death for Carillo and adjustment of Raque...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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