Case Digest (G.R. No. 177425)
Facts:
The United States, plaintiff and appellee, prosecuted Calixto Valdez y Quiri, defendant and appellant, for homicide after Venancio Gargantel disappeared on November 29, 1919, when a small boat from the inter-island steamer *Vigan* lay in the Pasig River near the lighthouse; witnesses testified Valdez, standing at the stern with a large knife, threatened Gargantel at the bow, whereupon Gargantel leaped into the water and did not reappear. The boat was some 30 to 40 yards from shore and about ten paces from the *Vigan*, and witnesses who remained on the boat never saw Gargantel rise to the surface.The trial court found death by drowning and convicted Valdez of homicide, sentencing him to twelve years and one day, reclusion temporal, ordering P500 indemnity and costs, and recognizing an attenuating circumstance under Par. 3, Art. 9, Penal Code; the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence with costs and appropriate accessories under Art. 59, Penal Code.
Issues:
- Was Cal
Case Digest (G.R. No. 177425)
Facts:
- Incident particulars and parties
- THE UNITED STATES, Plaintiff and Appellee, prosecuted the case against Calixto Valdez y Quiri, Defendant and Appellant.
- The alleged victim was Venancio Gargantel, a member of the boat crew working under the orders of the accused.
- Location, date, and immediate events
- The event occurred at about noon on November 29, 1919, while the inter-island steamer Vigan was anchored in the Pasig River near the lighthouse and close to its mouth at Manila Bay.
- A small boat from the Vigan, manned by seven men including the accused and the deceased, was sent to raise the anchor; the accused stood at the stern as helmsman and Venancio Gargantel stood at the bow.
- The accused abused the men with offensive epithets because the work proceeded slowly; Venancio remonstrated, urging that insults be discontinued to improve work.
- The accused, enraged, advanced toward Venancio with a big knife, threatening to stab him.
- Venancio, apparently believing himself in immediate peril, threw himself into the water and disappeared beneath the surface, never to be seen again by observers.
- Surrounding circumstances observed
- The boat was possibly 30 or 40 yards from shore and about ten paces from the Vigan; two scows were moored to the shore some 18 or 20 yards from the boat.
- It was full midday with nothing to obstruct view; witnesses on the boat testified that Venancio did not rise again to the surface.
- Two witnesses testified that immediately after Venancio leaped, the accused ordered the remaining crew to keep quiet or he would kill them.
- A friend of Venancio watched near the lighthouse for three days seeking the body; nothing was recovered.
- Venancio did not return to his lodging at No. 711 San Nicolas Street; his personal effects were delivered to a representative of his mother in Iloilo; friends and relatives assumed he was dead.
Issues:
- Primary legal questions presented
- Whether the evidence proved that Venancio Gargantel died and that his death resulted from drowning after leaping from the boat.
- Whether Calixto Valdez y Quiri was criminally responsible for the death of Venancio by creating the immediate danger that caused Venancio to leap and drown.
- Evidentiary and procedural sub-questions raised by dissent
- Whether the proof of death was sufficient for conviction given the absence of a recovered body and the time elapsed when the information was filed.
- Whether the presumption *presumption juris tantum* under section 334 o...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)