Facts:
On June twenty-one, two thousand nine in Sto. Nino, Cagayan,
Cornelio Mariano y Hipolito was charged with
murder under
Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code for the killing of
Janice Marie M. Goze, a minor seventeen years of age. The accusatory portion alleged that Mariano, armed with a sharp pointed bladed instrument, with
intent to kill,
treachery, and
abuse of superior strength, attacked and stabbed Janice several times, causing her death. Mariano pleaded
not guilty. After pre-trial, the parties stipulated that Janice was found dead on June twenty-five, two thousand nine, that she was seventeen at the time of death, and that her body was recovered at the boundary of Niug Sur and Lattac, Sto. Nino, Cagayan. The prosecution presented witnesses, including Janice’s father
Pedro Goze, barangay officials
Orlando Tolentino and
Jaime Corpuz,
Florentino Adriano, and
Dr. Ethel P. Simeon, who conducted the post-mortem examination on June twenty-five, two thousand nine. The prosecution’s evidence showed that in the morning of June twenty-one, Janice left the Goze household for Tuguegarao City to attend school at Vargas College, carrying a bag, items to be delivered, and cash totaling
PHP 2,700.00. Ten minutes after Janice left, Mariano also left wearing a black t-shirt with markings and corduroy pants. On June twenty-two, a friend of Janice learned through a text that Janice did not arrive in Tuguegarao City, prompting Janice’s family to search for her and eventually file a missing person report. After unsuccessful searches including travel to Aparri upon the discovery of a cadaver without identification, Pedro received text information around the fourth day that the police recovered Janice’s body near the river in the talahib area. The body was brought to Ortiz Funeral Parlor, and Pedro incurred
PHP 40,000.00 for wake and burial expenses. Dr. Simeon’s findings attributed Janice’s death to
pneumothorax secondary to multiple penetrating wounds, with multiple wounds located on the chest and abdominal areas, culminating in
hemopneumothorax secondary to multiple penetrating chest wounds. The prosecution further narrated that on the evening of June twenty-one, Adriano was awakened by Mariano, who was in his underwear and asked to borrow clothes; Adriano lent him clothes. Pedro noticed Mariano later wearing a green t-shirt different from the one he wore that morning. Mariano did not return to Pedro’s house during the wake and instead stayed in a neighbor’s house; barangay kagawad Tolentino observed Mariano as uneasy and seeing scratches on his forearm. On June twenty-six, barangay captain Corpuz was flagged down while riding a kuliglig to a barangay council session. Mariano, assisted by his brother
Mardo Mariano, asked Corpuz for help to bring him to the police station because he was the suspect in Janice’s killing; Mariano told Corpuz in transit: “Pakawanun nak iti inararamid ko” (Kap, forgive me for what I have done). Corpuz turned Mariano over to the police, and Mariano was detained after voluntary surrender. After this, on July one,
Gilbert Ballesteros reported to Tolentino that he found clothing in his cornfield in Lattac, Niug Sur; Tolentino relayed this to Corpuz, and barangay members retrieved a black t-shirt from the cornfield, which Tolentino recognized as Mariano’s because Mariano allegedly wore it often, including the night before and during the Adriano family wedding celebration in June. The defense presented only Mariano’s testimony. Mariano claimed he attended his nephew’s wedding on June twenty, stayed overnight at Randy Campo’s house, then had coffee in the morning, ate at the Goze household including Janice at around ten in the morning, cooked food at Ciriaco Mariano’s house, fed pigs and tended carabaos, drank with Jay-jay and Jordan Goze in the evening, sought permission to sleep below the Goze house, and later accompanied Pedro and Anita to Buguey to look for Janice after Janice failed to arrive. He asserted that he only learned of Janice’s death when her body was found and brought home. He denied involvement and stated he was later invited to the police station through Officer Rosendo Ruiz, Jr. via his brother Mardo, and that upon detention he was only informed of charges on July three, two thousand nine. The
Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pata, Tuao, Cagayan, Branch XI, convicted Mariano of murder and imposed
reclusion perpetua, awarding actual/compensatory damages for burial expenses, civil indemnity, moral damages, and exemplary damages. The RTC relied on circumstantial evidence: Mariano was seen wearing a black t-shirt with markings; a similar black shirt was recovered near the place where Janice’s body was found; Mariano borrowed clothes while in underwear; he proceeded with his brother to the police station; and he asked forgiveness from Corpuz. The RTC also found that Mariano was armed with a bladed weapon at the time of the incident and that the killing was attended by
abuse of superior strength, and it rejected the defense of denial as inconsistent. On appeal, the
Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the conviction with modification of damages. The CA maintained that Mariano’s guilt was sufficiently established and that
abuse of superior strength attended the killing, but it modified the award for actual damages, finding no documentary evidence supporting burial expenses, and instead awarded
temperate damages. The CA adjusted the civil indemnity, moral damages, and exemplary damages to align with prevailing jurisprudence. Mariano appealed to the Supreme Court seeking acquittal.
Issues:
Whether Mariano is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder under
Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code.
Ruling:
Ratio:
Doctrine: