Case Digest (G.R. No. L-204)
Facts:
The People of the Philippines v. Gerardo Cornel, G.R. No. L-204, May 16, 1947, the Supreme Court, Paras, J., writing for the Court. The respondent below and appellant here is Gerardo Cornel; the People of the Philippines prosecuted him for homicide. The case is an appeal from a judgment of the Court of First Instance of Albay convicting Cornel of homicide and sentencing him to an indeterminate term (from 8 years and 1 day of prision mayor to 14 years, 8 months and 1 day of reclusion temporal), ordering indemnity of P2,000 to the heirs of the deceased, Fabian Burac, and costs.The facts as found by the trial court, and that the Supreme Court accepted, are: on June 8, 1945 at about 6:00 p.m. in the barrio of San Miguel, Tabaco, Albay, Trinidad Coral personally saw the appellant suddenly assault her husband, Fabian Burac, with a bolo while Fabian was descending the stairs of his house; after Fabian fell wounded in the forehead, the appellant threw a stone which struck Fabian’s right clavicle; the appellant then fled toward his house. Fabian later reported the attack and was treated by Dr. Mariano Cruel.
Another witness for the prosecution, Caspara Bendicio, testified that shortly after the incident Fabian told her he had been boloed by the appellant; the trial court received that statement as res gestae. Dr. Cruel described a severe incised vertical wound of the forehead cutting frontal and nasal bones, observed signs of tetanus by June 15, 1945, and treated Fabian; anti-tetanic serum was prescribed but not administered. Fabian subsequently died; the civil registrar later certified that no entry had been made in his office as of August 3, 1945, but the Court accepted witness and medical testimony of death.
At trial the defense raised (a) lack of positive identification and an alibi (claiming appellant was in Tabaco between 5 p.m. June 8 and the morning of June 9), and (b) a forensic contention that the forehead wound could have been c...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the evidence sufficient to establish the appellant's identity as the assailant?
- Was the death of Fabian Burac established and was it proximately caused by the appellant’s assault so as to sustain a conviction for homicide?
- Was the testimony recounting Fabian’s statement admissible as res gestae and properly cons...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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