Case Digest (G.R. No. 116232)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Ernesto G. De Leon @ Erning Demonyo, G.R. No. 116232, September 26, 1996, the Supreme Court Third Division, Melo, J., writing for the Court.The prosecution charged Ernesto G. De Leon (accused-appellant) with murder for the killing of Albert (Alberto) Capistrano. After trial, the Regional Trial Court, National Capital Judicial Region, Branch 72, Caloocan City convicted accused-appellant of murder and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua and ordered indemnity payments of P50,000.00 for loss of life and P75,000.00 for expenses.
The factual account (as summarized by the Solicitor General and Assistant Solicitors) was that on March 1, 1992 at about 1:00 p.m., Alvin Capistrano (then 14) was at home with his mother Violeta and sister Agnes when accused-appellant arrived armed, shouting for his wife and creating a disturbance. Alvin fetched his father, who had been at a nearby baptismal party, to pacify accused-appellant; on their way home accused-appellant allegedly poked a gun at Alvin's forehead, then turned and shot the victim twice. Alvin ran for help and heard additional shots; accused-appellant fled and went into hiding.
Medical evidence presented by Dr. Valentin Bernales, medico-legal officer of the NBI, established that the victim died of gunshot wounds (post-mortem and death certificate admitted as exhibits). The accused-appellant raised two main defenses on appeal: (a) that the trial court erred in relying on the sole testimony of Alvin, which he contended was inherently improbable and thus insufficient to convict beyond reasonable doubt; and (b) that the trial court erred in finding treachery as a qualifying circumstance to elevate the offense to murder.
The Supreme Court reviewed the record. It accepted the trial court's credibility findings as to Alvin's testimony but concluded that the qualifying circumstance of treachery was not proved. The Court therefore modified the RTC judgment: it reduced the conviction from murder to homic...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the conviction for the killing of Albert Capistrano supported by sufficient evidence, particularly the sole testimony of Alvin Capistrano, to sustain criminal liability beyond reasonable doubt?
- Did the killing attend by the qualifying circumstance of treachery so as to elevate the offense f...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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