Facts:
On February fifteen, 1992 at about ten-thirty in the evening,
Danilo Manalus, a taxi driver, was stabbed to death near the
Pangilinan Compound along
Congressional Avenue,
Barangay Bahay Toro, Quezon City.
Melvin Mendoza y Zapanta was apprehended at the scene by tricycle driver
Bonifacio Wycoco, who testified that he encountered three men shouting “hold-up” and saw Mendoza on top of the victim holding a sharp knife, thrusting it into the taxi driver’s body. Wycoco stated that from where he was, he observed the driver fending off Mendoza’s attack using a
fan knife or
balisong, and that the two were grappling on the driver’s seat. Wycoco tried to pull Mendoza away and, when Mendoza resisted, Wycoco struck Mendoza’s left leg with a lead pipe, causing him to fall and preventing him from escaping. Another tricycle driver,
Louie Jose, testified that he arrived at the scene, tied Mendoza’s hands, and asked Mendoza why he said it was a hold-up; Mendoza responded that he was despondent because he did not have money to buy milk for his child. Jose further stated that
SPO1 Abraham Mendoza arrived, and that Mendoza turned the accused over to the police. Police testimony and the surrounding circumstances showed that a policeman searched Mendoza and found money stained with blood and a fan knife, while another large knife was found on the floor of the taxi. The victim was brought to
Quezon City General Hospital, but he was dead on arrival. The NBI medico-legal officer testified that the autopsy revealed three stab wounds, and that the fatal wound was at the left mid-chest and was caused by a sharp single-bladed instrument. The security officer of the hospital,
Mario Bermudez, turned over cash amounting to
P910.00 to SPO1 Mendoza, and some of the bills were bloodstained. NBI forensic chemist
Mary Ann T. Aranas examined the blood on the fan knife, kitchen knife, and clothing taken from the taxi and found
human blood, type B. The father of the victim,
Tranquilino Manalus, testified and presented documentary evidence that the net expenses for the wake and funeral amounted to
P61,000.00. For his defense, Mendoza admitted that he stabbed the victim but claimed
self-defense and denied the presence of robbery; he claimed that after a dispute over the taxi fare and a heated exchange, the driver suddenly stabbed him, a scuffle occurred, and he wrested the knife and stabbed the driver several times. He added that after someone hit him with a lead pipe and pulled him out, his hands were tied, he was searched, his money amounting to
P912.00 was taken, he was brought to the hospital and then to the police headquarters where he alleged he was beaten and forced to implicate his cousin. The Regional Trial Court, Branch 105 of Quezon City, convicted Mendoza of
robbery with homicide, sentenced him to
reclusion perpetua, and ordered the heirs to receive
P61,000.00 as actual damages and
P100,000.00 as moral damages, prompting the appeal. The Court of appeal process affirmed the conviction but modified the amounts of damages.
Issues:
Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove
robbery with homicide beyond reasonable doubt and to justify the conviction despite Mendoza’s claim of
self-defense, and whether the awards of damages were properly computed.
Ruling:
Ratio:
Doctrine: