Facts:

The case involves the appeal of Danilo Dumpe, Danilo Clemente, and Jeremias Sebastian from their conviction of the crime of Murder in the Regional Trial Court of Caloocan. The facts of the case are based on the testimony of prosecution witness Joselito Dungca. On May 15, 1982, the victim Guillermo Ocampo and Dungca were accosted by two individuals who undressed them and brought them to a group of people who were drinking nearby. The group proceeded to maul Ocampo, cutting his hair and scraping his tattoo. They then took Ocampo and Dungca to a basketball court, and later, Dumpe and Sebastian took Ocampo to a nearby cemetery. When they returned to the basketball court, they had bloodied clothes and a bloodied knife. The bodies of Ocampo and another victim were later found in the cemetery with multiple stab wounds.

Issue:

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Ruling:

The court rules that Dungca's testimony is credible and that he positively identified the appellants as being involved in the mauling of Ocampo. The court also finds that the appellants' alibis are not credible, considering the accessibility of the crime scene to the places where they claimed to have been. The court concludes that the appellants are guilty of Mu...(Unlock)

Ratio:

The court finds that discrepancies between an affidavit and oral testimony do not necessarily discredit a witness, as affidavits are often incomplete and prepared by someone else. The court also notes that the omission of certain details in the affidavit, such as the basketball court and the cemetery, does not affect the credibility of Dungca's testimony. The court considers the sequence of events and the combination of facts and circumstances as sufficient to esta...continue reading