Facts:

• Defendant, Eusebio Santa Cruz, accused of robbery with violence to the person
• Incident allegedly occurred in Manila, Philippines
• Defendant accused of robbing a young Hindoo boy named Ri-Jhorumal
• Ri-Jhorumal claimed he was sent by his employer to the Tondo market to buy thread and was given ten pesos in silver
• Ri-Jhorumal stated he was robbed of the money by two men in a street near the market
• According to Ri-Jhorumal, one of the men held his hand over his mouth while the other took the money from his pocket and ran away
• Ri-Jhorumal identified the defendant as the man who held his hand over his mouth
• Another witness, Claudio Subit, denied witnessing the incident
• Defense presented witnesses to establish an alibi for the defendant

Issue:

• (Unlock)

Ruling:

• The court reversed the judgment of the lower court and acquitted the defendant
• Lack of corroborating evidence and inherent improbability of the alleged victim's testimony
• Testimony of Ri-Jhorumal was inherently improbable, as it was unlikely for such an incident to occur in broad daylight in a central area of a large city without attracting anyone's...(Unlock)

Ratio:

• Principle that in criminal cases, the prosecution has the burden of proving the guilt of the accused beyond a ...continue reading