Case Digest (G.R. No. 100938-39)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Blademir Devaras, Pablo Devaras and Ronilo Caisek, G.R. No. 100938-39, December 15, 1993, Supreme Court First Division, Cruz, J., writing for the Court.On the evening of July 10, 1990, two men—Efren Verzosa (pedicab driver) and his passenger Felix Verzosa—were suddenly attacked on Daguitan bridge and hacked to death with bolos; their bodies were later thrown into the river. The killings were discovered that same night after the abandoned pedicab was reported; one witness, Raul (also referred to as Ruel) Animos, implicated the three accused—Blademir Devaras, Pablo Devaras, and Ronilo Caisek—in statements given to the police. Autopsy findings recorded nine wounds on Efren and twenty on Felix.
The three accused were charged in two informations with murder, alleging conspiracy and qualifying circumstances of treachery and abuse of superior strength. At trial before Judge Pedro S. Espina of the Regional Trial Court, Branch VII, Palo, Leyte, the prosecution’s principal witness was Raul Animos, who testified he had been drinking with the accused and joined them on patrol that evening; he narrated that Blademir attacked Efren with a sansibar and Ronilo attacked Felix, after which the bodies were thrown into the river with the assistance of others. The accused each denied participation or gave shifting alibis; the trial court rejected the alibis as inconsistent and incredible.
The trial court convicted Blademir Devaras as principal and Pablo Devaras as accessory in the murder of Efren Verzosa, and convicted Ronilo Caisek of the murder of Felix Verzosa. Blademir and Ronilo were sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to pay P50,000.00 civil indemnity to the heirs of their respective victims; Pablo was sentenced by the trial court to an indeterminate penalty of 6 years, 1 month and 11 days to 8 years and 20 da...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the remedy of mandamus available to compel the prosecutor to include Raul/Ruel Animos as a co-accused when the prosecutor declined to charge him?
- Did the facts warrant conviction for murder (qualified by treachery) rather than homicide?
- Was there conspiracy among the accused to justify common liability, and was Pablo correctly convicted as an accessory with the proper penalty a...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)