G.R. No. 209047 - Usares y Sibay vs. People

Conviction in the Regional Trial Court
In a Decision dated February 23, 2012 in Criminal Case No. 08-259156, the RTC found petitioner Angela Usares y Sibay (Usares) guilty beyond reasonable doubt of Homicide.
The RTC sentenced Usares to suffer imprisonment for an indeterminate period of eight (8) years and one (1) day, as minimum, to twelve (12) years and one (1) day, as maximum.
The RTC ordered Usares to pay the heirs of the victim PHP 50,000.00 as actual and compensatory damages, PHP 50,000.00 as moral damages, and PHP 50,000.00 as exemplary damages, and to pay the costs of suit.
The RTC cancelled the bond posted for the provisional liberty of Usares.
The RTC promulgated the Decision on March 21, 2012.

Motions and orders concerning provisional liberty pending appeal
After promulgation, Atty. Jojo Soriano Vijiga (Atty. Vijiga), representing Usares, manifested in open court that they “intend to file a Notice of Appeal within fifteen (15) days from [March 21, 2012]” and moved that Usares be “released under the same bond x x x.”
The RTC granted the motion through an Order dated March 21, 2012, allowing Usares to be released under the same bond.
Usares subsequently filed a Notice of Appeal on April 12, 2012, which the RTC granted through an Order dated May 10, 2012.

Motion for issuance of warrant and dismissal at the Court of Appeals
On November 28, 2012, Deodoro A. Edillo (Edillo) filed a Motion for the Issuance of Warrant of Arrest, praying that a warrant be issued against Usares to enforce the RTC Decision.
In a Resolution dated February 14, 2013, the CA dismissed Usares’s appeal and referred the Motion for the Issuance of Warrant of Arrest to the RTC for appropriate action.
The CA reasoned that despite the judgment of conviction and the cancellation of her bail bond, Usares continued to enjoy liberty during the pendency of appeal without a valid bail bond having been posted and approved by the court.
The CA concluded that Usares was considered to have “jumped bail”, and therefore the appeal should be dismissed under Section 8, Rule 124 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure and prevailing jurisprudence.

Finality of the CA resolution and subsequent motion for reconsideration
On March 11, 2013, the February 14, 2013 CA Resolution became final and executory and was recorded in the Book of Entries of Judgments.
Through Atty. Bernardo Q. Cuaresma (Atty. Cuaresma), Usares filed a motion for reconsideration on July 15, 2013.
Usares argued, among others, that during the promulgation o...(Subscriber-Only)

Whether the CA correctly dismissed Usares’s appeal for allegedly “jumping bail” under Section 8, Rule 124 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure.
Whether the CA’s dismissal remained legally justified despite the RTC’s grant of Usares’s request to be released under the same bail bond during promulgation.
Whether procedural technicalities relating to finality of judgment and timeliness of reconsideration should preve...(Subscriber-Only)