Case Digest (G.R. No. 207145)
Facts:
The People of the Philippine Islands v. Natalio Ilustre, G.R. No. 32076, March 14, 1930, the Supreme Court En Banc, Villamor, J., writing for the Court.The petitioner was the People of the Philippine Islands (plaintiff and appellee); the respondent was Natalio Ilustre (defendant and appellant). Ilustre was prosecuted in the Court of First Instance of Batangas on an information charging homicide for allegedly striking Juan Magsino on or about June 24, 1929, in the municipality of Balayan, Batangas, producing a liver bruising and internal hemorrhage that resulted in Magsino’s death.
At trial the Court of First Instance found Ilustre guilty as charged but imposed the penalty in its minimum degree — twelve years and one day, reclusion temporal — together with P1,000 indemnity and costs, considering the absence of intent to cause so grave an evil as a mitigating circumstance. Ilustre appealed, raising five principal contentions: (1) the court erred in finding that he struck Magsino in the right hypochondriac region and bruised his liver; (2) even if there was a contusion, it did not cause death; (3) any doubt as to cause should reduce the offense to a misdemeanor against the person; (4) lack of criminal intent warranted acquittal; and (5) reasonable doubt required acquittal.
The underlying facts at the feast in barrio Canlurangbayan, Balayan, were that Ilustre acted as the man in charge of a procession carrying a roasted pig. The deceased, described as delicate and suffering from incipient tuberculosis, tried to seize a piece of the roast; Ilustre ran after him, struck him in the abdomen a little to the right, and left him sprawling. Magsino became ill thereafter and died about three o’clock the same afternoon.
An autopsy was performed by Dr. Jose Ilagan, assisted by Drs. Antonio Agoncillo and Hermenegildo del Castillo. Drs. Ilagan and Agoncillo found an interstitial hemorrhage of the liver (bruise of the anterior right lobe), sanguineous fluid in the abdominal cavity, a hemorrhagic peritoneum, and an ecchymotic spot on the right epigastric region; the lungs showed miliary granules consistent with incipient tuberculosis and the heart was somewhat dilated but with normal valves. Dr. Ilagan and Dr. Agoncillo concluded death resulted from liver contusion and internal hemorrhage; Dr. del Castillo gave no definite conclusion.
Dr. Sixto Roxas, director of the provincial hospital, reviewed the autopsy findings and testified that a blow on the right hypochondrium could cause death and that, although death from such a blow within five hours would be “extremely rare,” the victim’s tubercular condition and diminished blood volume could have materially contributed to fatality and that the shock could have been caused by the blow. The trial court credited the autopsy and medical testimony and found the blow inflicted by Ilustre caused the fatal interna...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the evidence sufficient to establish that the blow inflicted by Natalio Ilustre caused Juan Magsino’s death?
- Does the victim’s pre-existing illness (incipient tuberculosis and delicate constitution) relieve Ilustre of criminal liability for homicide?
- Does the absence of intent to cause death require acquittal or a reduction of the offense, and w...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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