Case Digest (G.R. No. 213104)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. PO1 Cyril A. De Gracia, G.R. No. 213104, July 29, 2015, the Supreme Court Second Division, Mendoza, J., writing for the Court.The respondent, PO1 Cyril A. De Gracia (De Gracia), a policeman in civilian clothes, was charged with the crime of murder (Article 248, Revised Penal Code), an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua. While detained in the Manila City Jail, De Gracia filed a petition for bail on February 22, 2012.
At the RTC bail hearing the prosecution presented three witnesses — Robert Bryan Villanueva, Joshua Mendoza, and Merwin Irison — who described events on December 28–29, 2011 at a party in Malate, Manila. Their testimony related that De Gracia arrived at the party, conversed with Bless Roquero (an ex-girlfriend of a friend), had his service pistol present, and, after Bless pulled his hair and exchanged words, suddenly pointed the gun and fired, hitting victim David Paul (David) in the chest; David was taken to Ospital ng Maynila and pronounced dead. Witnesses emphasized the suddenness of the shooting, with Robert estimating the shooter was about one to 1¼ meters from David; Joshua said there was no heated discussion before the shot and De Gracia was not intoxicated; Merwin recalled De Gracia attempting to bring David to his vehicle after the shooting.
The Regional Trial Court, Branch 40, Manila (RTC) in its August 31, 2012 Order granted the petition for bail, concluding that treachery — the qualifying circumstance alleged by the prosecution to elevate the killing to murder — was not sufficiently established and that the evidence of guilt for murder was not strong. The RTC set bail at an amount to be suggested by the prosecution and later fixed bail at P100,000 by Order of November 28, 2012, after denying the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals (CA) seeking to annul the RTC order. The CA required rectification of defects and later received an amended petition. On February 10, 2014 the CA, in CA-G.R. SP No. 128396, dismissed the OSG’s petition, agreeing with the RTC that although the shooting was sudden, the prosecution failed to show De Gracia consciously adopted a treacherous method of attack or attended the party with intent to kill; the CA likewise denie...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Procedural: Did the Court of Appeals gravely err in affirming the RTC’s grant of bail to De Gracia by concluding the evidence of guilt for an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua was not strong?
- Substantive: Were the elements of treachery (alevosia) sufficiently established by strong evidence to render the evidence of guilt for murder...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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