Facts:

• Crispulo Dijan, Romualdo Paglinawan, and Oliver Lizardo were charged with the murder of Alvaro Hilario on April 11, 1998, in Marikina City, Philippines.
• The Regional Trial Court convicted Dijan of murder, sentencing him to reclusion perpetua, while his co-accused were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
• The prosecution alleged that Dijan and his companions attacked Hilario, inflicting fourteen injuries, including nine stab wounds.
• Dijan claimed he acted in defense of Paglinawan, asserting that Hilario was attacking him.
• The defense presented testimonies indicating that Hilario was the aggressor, but the trial court found Dijan's defense less credible than the prosecution's evidence.
• Dijan appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in dismissing his defense and in its evaluation of treachery.

Issue:

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Ruling:

• The Supreme Court upheld Dijan's conviction but modified the charge from murder to homicide.
• The Court determined that while Dijan's actions constituted a crime, the evidence did not adequately support the qualifying circumstance of treachery.
• Dijan was sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of nine years and one day of prision mayor to fifteen years and eleven months and three days of rec...(Unlock)

Ratio:

• The Supreme Court observed that the nature and number of wounds inflicted by Dijan on Hilario undermined his claim of acting in defense of a stranger.
• For a defense to be justifiable, there must be clear evidence of unlawful aggression, necessity of means employed, and absence of malicious intent.
• Evidence suggested that Hilario was not unarmed and may have posed a threat, as indi...continue reading