Title
People vs. Dijan y Macajiya
Case
G.R. No. 142682
Decision Date
Jun 5, 2002
Three men were charged with murder after a fatal stabbing; Dijan was convicted of homicide, not murder, due to insufficient evidence of treachery, with modified penalties and damages.
murder
homicide
treachery

Case Summary (G.R. No. 142682)

Parties and Procedural Setting

Accused-appellant was indicted together with Romualdo Paglinawan and Oliver Lizardo for murder qualified by treachery and committed with intent to kill through the use of a knife and an ice-pick. Upon arraignment, all three entered pleas of not guilty, and the case proceeded to trial. The Regional Trial Court convicted only Crispulo Dijan of murder while acquitting the two co-accused for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Dijan then appealed the conviction.

Information and Charges

The information alleged that on or about 11 April 1998, in Marikina City and within the trial court’s jurisdiction, the accused, conspiring and confederating and mutually helping and aiding one another, while armed with a knife and an ice-pick and with intent to kill, and by means of treachery and abuse of superior strength, attacked and stabbed Alvaro Hilario, thereby inflicting injuries that directly caused Hilario’s death.

Factual Background as Presented by the Prosecution

The prosecution’s evidence centered on the encounter between the parties on the evening of 11 April 1998. Roderick Silvestre and Alvaro Hilario were at a store near the corner of Paraiso and Sumulong Streets in Parang, Marikina City around ten o’clock, purchasing cigarettes. They saw the group composed of Crispulo Dijan, Romualdo Paglinawan, and Oliver Lizardo passing by the store.

According to Silvestre, the two groups came to an encounter when Paglinawan confronted Hilario for allegedly giving him a bad stare. After an apology exchange and Silvestre’s explanation that Hilario’s manner of gazing was natural, the three accused left. Silvestre and Hilario then walked home.

Silvestre testified that while they were walking, the three accused—whom he believed were waiting for them—suddenly ganged up on Hilario and took turns stabbing him. Hilario, who was slightly ahead, cried out and told Silvestre to flee. Silvestre ran and clung to a passing passenger jeepney. Responding policemen arrived after being informed through radio communication. They later found Hilario’s lifeless body at the scene.

After receiving reports identifying the assailants’ whereabouts, the policemen proceeded about 200 meters away from the scene. With the assistance of barangay tanods, they arrested the suspected assailants.

Autopsy Findings Supporting the Prosecution

On 12 April 1998, Dr. Ma. Cristina B. Freyra, Medico-Legal Officer of the PNP, conducted an autopsy. She found that Hilario sustained several stab wounds, punctured and incised wounds, and abrasion in various body parts, and that these injuries caused his death.

The medico-legal officer concluded that the wounds could have been inflicted by two assailants using two single-bladed weapons and an icepick. This medical conclusion was the prosecution’s objective evidence on the manner and multiplicity of the injuries inflicted.

Version of the Defense

The defense asserted that on the night of the incident, Dijan and his companions Paglinawan and Lizardo were walking home and passed by a store to buy cigarettes. There, they met Hilario and Silvestre, who were drinking. According to the defense, Paglinawan accosted one of the duo over an alleged sharp stare, but the other apologized and explained that his companion was drunk. The parties then shook hands.

As the group began walking along Paraiso Street, Dijan claimed that he turned and saw Paglinawan being stabbed by Hilario. Dijan stated that when Paglinawan was hit on the left arm, the two grappled for possession of the knife. Dijan further claimed that Silvestre pulled out an icepick and that Dijan held Silvestre’s hand after seeing it. He then stated that, once Silvestre was disarmed, he saw Paglinawan still grappling with Hilario. Because Hilario allegedly appeared to be much taller than Paglinawan, Dijan claimed he helped and stabbed Hilario using the icepick he wrestled away from Silvestre. Dijan also asserted that he assisted Paglinawan in reaching home, which was about 20 meters from the scene.

Co-accused accounts substantially mirrored this narrative. Lizardo testified that he ran away when Silvestre rushed toward them holding an icepick. Paglinawan testified that as they were at the corner of Paraiso and Sumulong streets, he heard rushing footsteps, and when he turned, Hilario suddenly stabbed him, wounding him on the left forearm after he evaded the thrust aimed at his chest. He claimed the two grappled for the knife for about five minutes until Paglinawan was weakened by bleeding, and that Dijan pulled away Hilario and then stabbed him.

Defense Evidence Corroborating an Alternative Scene

The defense presented Lani Sarmiento and Dr. Alfredo Garcia. Sarmiento testified that she and a companion noticed two men, one tall and the other average, overtake them near Lindas Bakery. She claimed she exclaimed because it appeared the men were hurrying and angry. When nearing Sumulong Street, she said the two men approached three other men walking toward Paraiso Street. She testified that suddenly the tall man pulled out a knife and stabbed one of the three men. She later learned that the stabbed person was their “Kuya Jojo,” identified as Romualdo Paglinawan.

Dr. Garcia testified that he treated Romualdo Paglinawan on 11 April 1998 at the Amang Rodriguez Medical Centre for a stab wound at the right forearm.

Trial Court Ruling

The Regional Trial Court convicted Crispulo Dijan y Macajiya beyond reasonable doubt for murder qualified by treachery, and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua. It ordered him to pay the heirs of Hilario civil indemnity of P50,000.00, funeral expenses of P34,200.00, and moral and exemplary damages of P50,000.00. The trial court acquitted Romualdo Paglinawan and Oliver Lizardo on reasonable doubt.

Grounds Raised on Appeal

On appeal, Dijan argued that the trial court erred in finding him guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and that even assuming guilt, the trial court erred in appreciating treachery. The Supreme Court addressed both issues through the lens of the defense of a stranger and the evidentiary requirements for treachery.

Defense of Stranger: Failure to Meet the Burden

The Court held that the defense of a stranger required the accused to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, the elements of unlawful aggression on the part of the victim, the reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it, and the absence of revenge, resentment, or other evil motive. The Court further emphasized that unlawful aggression must be a continuing circumstance or must have existed at the time the defense was made. Once unlawful aggression ceased, justification to kill or even to wound would likewise cease.

Applying these principles, the Court found that the defense narrative was inconsistent with the continuing nature of unlawful aggression at the moment Dijan delivered the fatal thrusts. The record showed that after Dijan allegedly took possession of the weapon from Roderick Silvestre, even Paglinawan admitted there was no more danger to both Silvestre and Dijan. The Court therefore reasoned that Hilario’s alleged aggression had, by the defense account, been abated when the fatal stabbing continued.

The Court also considered the number of wounds. The autopsy evidence showed that Hilario sustained fourteen injuries, including nine stab wounds, three punctured wounds, an incised wound, and an abrasion. The Court ruled that the nature and number of injuries were significant indicia that negated the plausibility of the defense plea, particularly on the claim of necessity and the continuing character of unlawful aggression.

Treachery: Not Proven Beyond Conjecture

Although the Court rejected the defense of a stranger as justification, it nonetheless held that the evidence for treachery was wanting. Treachery, the Court explained, is the sudden and unexpected attack that deprives the victim of any real chance to defend himself and ensures execution without risk to the aggressor. It requires, first, means of execution that give the person attacked no opportunity to defend or retaliate, and second, that those means are deliberately and consciously adopted.

The Court stressed that these elements must be proven as indubitably as the killing itself and cannot be inferred through conjecture.

In the case, the Court found that it was not satisfactorily established that Hilario was unarmed at the time of the stabbing. The stab wound sustained by Romualdo Paglinawan, who was a co-accused of Dijan, could indicate that the victim might have been armed as well. The Court also found it unclear whether there was no provocation by the victim. Because these treachery requirements were not clearly established, the Court concluded that Dijan could not be convicted of murder qualified by treachery.

Modification of the Crime and Penalty

With treachery not proven and the defense of stranger failing, the Court ruled that the proper conviction was for homicide. The applicable penalty for homicide under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code was reclusion temporal, imposed in its medium period in the absence of any mitigating or aggravating circumstance.

The Court applied the Indeterminate Sentence Law. It set the minimum term within the range of prision

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