Case Digest (G.R. No. 31479)
Facts:
The People of the Philippine Islands v. Eduardo Tolentino, G.R. No. 31479, November 29, 1929, the Supreme Court En Banc, Johns, J., writing for the Court.The plaintiff-appellee is The People of the Philippine Islands; the defendant-appellant is Eduardo Tolentino. Tolentino admitted killing Espiridion Candelaria but pleaded self-defense.
On the morning of November 1, 1928, Candelaria was found dead in his room with a large head wound and his clothes saturated with blood. Dr. Sixto A. Francisco personally examined the body and described a single, large, clean-cut wound about six and one-half inches long, three-fourths of an inch wide and one and a half inches deep, located on the right side just above the right ear and extending from the temporal region to the dorsal region of the neck. The doctor testified that the wound caused extensive hemorrhage and death; he further opined that the blow was inflicted by a sharp instrument from behind, though on cross-examination he admitted that, if the victim stooped about 45 degrees, the wound could have been inflicted by someone facing him.
Tolentino testified that while studying with Candelaria, the latter provoked him with words, threw a book, drew a knife and ran at him in an apparent stabbing motion. Tolentino said he ran to get his bolo, unsheathed it, ran back past Candelaria, and in an attempt to disable Candelaria’s knife-bearing hand struck him; the blade, he claimed, accidentally hit Candelaria on the head. Tolentino further testified he fled, later surrendered to authorities on December 13, 1928, and exhibited a scar on his right forearm that he asserted had been inflicted by Candelaria during the altercation.
Prosecution witness Ciriaco Arriola testified that he heard a disturbance, then saw Tolentino run out of the room with an unsheathed bolo in his left hand, which Tolentino lifted toward and chased Arriola with; Arriola fled and later returned to find Candelaria dead. No weapon or instrument was found in the room with Candelaria’s body. The trial court saw the wound and heard testimony and found Tolentino’s claim of self-defense unconvincing, concluding that the physical facts contradicted his account; it convicted Tolentino and sentenced him to fourteen years, eight months and one day of reclusion temporal.
Tolentino appealed to the Supreme Court,...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did Eduardo Tolentino establish that he acted in lawful self-defense when he killed Espiridion Candelaria?
- If self-defense was not established, should the penalty imposed by the trial court be maintained or modified in light of mitigatin...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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