Case Digest (G.R. No. 172324)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Celino Nabong y Ocenar (aka Salvador Abaquita), Alvin Laguit y Brendo and Nolfe Ladio (aka Roel Salutario), G.R. No. 172324, April 04, 2007, Supreme Court En Banc, Chico-Nazario, J., writing for the Court.On 5 April 1999 the Office of the City Prosecutor of Makati filed an Information in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati charging four construction workers — Celino Nabong, Alvin Laguit, Nolfe Ladiao and Arnel Miraflor — with the special complex crime of attempted rape with homicide under Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act No. 8353 (the Anti-Rape Law of 1997). An Amended Information was filed on 21 April 1999. Upon arraignment the accused pleaded not guilty and trial followed.
The prosecution presented eyewitness and circumstantial evidence recounting events on the night of 23 March 1999. The accused and several co-workers drank at a videoke bar, later proceeding to a vacant lot by Ayala Avenue where the victim, a 22-year-old accountant identified in the records as AAA, was accosted. Witness Reynaldo Patenio testified that he saw Nabong stab the victim in the thigh with a pointed metal bar while Ladiao covered her mouth and the others crowded around the victim. Vendors Ofelia Camba and Virginia Mabayao placed Nabong at the scene and overheard the men make derogatory remarks such as “Huwag na yan, lagas na yan.” Police discovered the victim badly injured, with torn undergarments and a torn brassiere; she later died of stab wounds (hemoperitonium) as certified by the medico-legal examiner, Dr. Ronaldo Mendez. Investigators recovered bloodstains and an earring of the victim near the concrete culvert pipes.
The defense proffered alibi testimony from the accused, who admitted drinking but denied participation in the attack. Miraflor fled the scene and later was acquitted for insufficiency of evidence.
On 18 June 2002 the RTC, Branch 66, Makati City, convicted Nabong, Laguit and Ladiao of attempted rape with homicide and imposed the death penalty, with awards of civil and exemplary damages; Miraflor was acquitted. Because of the death penalty, the case was directly elevated to the Supreme Court but the Court referred it to the Court of Appeals for intermediate review in conformity with People v. Mateo. The Court of Appeals, in CA-G.R. CR No. 00731, affirmed the convictions ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether the credibility of eyewitness Reynaldo Patenio, who allegedly had a motive to perjure himself, justifies overturning the convictions.
- Whether the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt the complex crime of attempted rape with homicide by direct or circumstantial evidence.
- Whether treachery was properly appreciated as an aggravating circumstance.
- Whether intoxication and low degree of instruction qualify as mitigating circumstances in favor of the accused.
- Whether the accused’s right to counsel was violated when defense ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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