Case Digest (G.R. No. 130800)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Guillermo Nepomuceno, Jr., G.R. No. 130800, June 29, 1999, the Supreme Court En Banc, Davide, Jr., C.J., writing for the Court.Accused-appellant Guillermo Nepomuceno, Jr. was charged before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Manila with two offenses: parricide in Criminal Case No. 94-136491 and qualified illegal possession of firearm in Criminal Case No. 94-139839. The two informations were consolidated and assigned to Branch 46, but the RTC first tried and, on November 20, 1996, convicted Nepomuceno of parricide and sentenced him to “forty years of reclusion perpetua.” Nepomuceno appealed that conviction to the Court (G.R. No. 127818).
In its decision of November 11, 1998 in G.R. No. 127818, this Court affirmed the conviction for parricide but modified the penalty from “forty years of reclusion perpetua” to reclusion perpetua. Meanwhile, the RTC proceeded to try Criminal Case No. 94-139839 (the illegal possession charge). The information alleged that on May 2, 1994 Nepomuceno, a private individual, possessed a .38 caliber revolver and one piece of ammunition without the required permit and that the firearm was used in the commission of the killing of his wife.
On September 24, 1997 the RTC found Nepomuceno guilty of aggravated illegal possession of firearm (Section 1, paragraph 2, P.D. No. 1866, as amended by R.A. No. 8294) and sentenced him to death by lethal injection; the court recommended executive clemency and forwarded the judgment and record to the Supreme Court for automatic review pursuant to Article 47 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Section 22 of R.A. No. 7659.
Two separate appellant’s briefs were filed for Nepomuceno by court-appointed counsel, arguing (inter alia) that conviction rested on inference and that R.A. No. 8294 should be given retroactive effect to his benefit. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), in a Manifestation in Lieu of Appellee’s Brief, urged reversal and acquittal on grounds that the prosecution failed to prove lack of license and that, under People v. Bergante, R.A. No. 8294 should be given retroactive application so that the use of an unlicensed firearm in a killing is only an aggravating circumstance and not a separate punishable offense.
The illegal-possession information alleged the offense occurred on May 2, 1994 (before enactment of R.A. No. 8294 on June 6, 1997). Under the pre-amendment second paragraph of Section 1 of P.D. No. 1866, u...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Should the amendment effected by R.A. No. 8294 be applied retroactively to benefit the accused?
- Did the prosecution prove the essential elements of aggravated illegal possession of firearm (including absence of license) beyond reasonable doubt?
- Was the imposition of the death penalty in the aggravated illegal-possession co...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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