G.R. No. L-24866 - People vs. Llamoso y Ortacio

Case Summary (G.R. No. L-24866)

Factual Background

On the evening of February 28, 1963, five men hailed a taxi driven by Raul Empedrado and instructed him to drive into the vicinity of the Motor Vehicles Office (Manila Branch) at Dakota Street. One of the front-seat passengers threatened Empedrado with a gun and another commandeered the wheel. The cab stopped within the MVO compound and the men entered the office with firearms, ordered employees to lie down, and opened the cashier’s drawers. Patrol and office employees heard gunfire. Patrolman Domingo Daracan was shot and later died from his wounds. The robbers left with P23,778.00 in cash and several checks; the taxi was later found abandoned.

Police Investigation and Physical Evidence

Investigating officers recovered sixteen empty shells at the scene, ten of .30 caliber carbine and six of .45 caliber pistol, and photographed the scene. The abandoned taxi yielded physical articles including pieces of rope, a carbine stock, a bullet, and latent fingerprints. Manila Police fingerprint expert Bonifacio Marcelo lifted latent prints from the taxi and found that a print from the inner face right-side glass window (Exhibit E-1) tallied with the middle finger print of Dominador Aguilar. Paraffin tests by Servillano David showed nitrate residues on the hands of Dominador Aguilar, Gilberto Llamoso, and Oscar Padilla. Dr. Angelo Singian’s autopsy report established three gunshot wounds as the cause of death of Pat. Domingo Daracan.

Statements, Admissions and Identification

During the investigation, Dominador Aguilar was apprehended and gave written statements admitting participation and identifying companions including Gilberto Llamoso and Oscar Padilla (Exhibits P, Q, R). Gilberto Llamoso likewise executed extrajudicial statements on March 2 and reaffirmed them before an Assistant City Fiscal (Exhibits V, Z, S), describing planning, execution and flight. Taxi driver Raul Empedrado positively identified Gilberto Llamoso as the man who pointed a gun at him and used him as a shield during the assault.

Trial Court Proceedings and Sentence

At trial the court dismissed the case against Lagim Lagunera for insufficiency of evidence and acquitted Oscar Padilla. The trial court found Gilberto Llamoso and Dominador Aguilar guilty beyond reasonable doubt of robbery in band with homicide. The trial court found the aggravating circumstances of use of a motor vehicle and nighttime and also characterized the crime as a direct assault against an agent of a person in authority. Citing the mandatory language of the second paragraph of Article 5 of the Revised Penal Code, the trial court imposed the maximum penalty, death, on each convicted defendant, and ordered indemnification to the government in the amount of P23,778 and to the heirs of Pat. Domingo Daracan in the amount of P5,000, with costs.

Motion for New Trial and Procedural Posture on Appeal

Appellant Gilberto Llamoso filed a Motion for New Trial on September 21, 1965, alleging errors of law and newly discovered material evidence consisting of the expected testimony of a fellow convict, Romeo Canary. The Court reserved the matter for consideration on the merits in a Minute Resolution dated November 2, 1965. During automatic review the Supreme Court received evidence that appellant Dominador Aguilar died on March 28, 1971, which the Court determined extinguished his personal criminal liability and obligations to suffer corporal penalties.

Defendants’ Principal Contentions on Appeal

Appellant Gilberto Llamoso contended that his extrajudicial confessions were obtained under duress and that the statements merely reflected information supplied by the taxi driver and MVO employees; he also challenged Empedrado’s identification. Appellant Dominador Aguilar asserted an alibi that he was performing duties as a security guard in Sampaloc market and that his fingerprints had been planted by police; he also contended that his extrajudicial confessions were coerced. Both appellants invoked the credibility of police methods and the reliability of the prosecution’s physical evidence.

The Court’s Evaluation of Confessions and Identifications

The Court found the extrajudicial confessions of both appellants to be voluntary and credible. It relied on the circumstances of their execution and affirmation under oath before an Assistant City Fiscal, the absence of any contemporaneous complaint of coercion to the Fiscal or the authorities, the detailed and noncumulative character of the statements, and the corroboration of those details by independent evidence. The temporal sequence of the confessions was noted: Gilberto Llamoso executed statements on March 2, 1963, prior to Dominador Aguilar’s statements of March 6 and 9, 1963, undercutting the assertion that one confession was copied from the other. The Court accepted Raul Empedrado’s identification of Llamoso as credible because Empedrado had prolonged and direct contact with Llamoso from the time the group entered the taxi until the holdup and because Llamoso had pointed a gun at Empedrado and used him as a shield.

The Court’s Evaluation of Forensic and Alibi Claims

The Court accepted Bonifacio Marcelo’s expert testimony that the latent fingerprint from the taxi matched the middle finger of Dominador Aguilar, and it found that the timing of the lifting of latent prints from the taxi (shortly after the robbery) and the subsequent taking of Aguilar’s impressions demonstrated an objective chain that refuted the claim of planted prints. The paraffin test results showing nitrates on the hands of Aguilar and Llamoso and the autopsy and ballistic evidence further corroborated the prosecution’s version. The Court rejected Aguilar’s alibi for lack of corroboration and absence of supporting witnesses from Precinct No. 6 or the Youth Center.

Supreme Court Disposition

The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment and sentence of death imposed on Gilberto Llamoso y Ortacio, but increased the indemnity to the heirs of Pat. Domingo Daracan to P12,000.00. The Court dismissed the case against Dominador Aguilar y Dayao insofar as his criminal liability was concerned because his death during the pendency of automatic review extinguished his obligation to suffer corporal or personal penalties and to pay pecuniary penalties, and the dismissal was ordered with proportionate costs de oficio. The Court noted that the cases against Lagim Lagunera and Oscar Padilla had been dismissed and acquitted, respectively, at the trial level.

Legal Basis and Reasoning

The Court applied established standards governing motions for new trial based on newly discovered evidence: the evidence must have

Case Syllabus (G.R. No. L-24866)

Parties and Procedural Posture

The People of the Philippines was the plaintiff-appellee in an information for Robbery in Band with Homicide filed in the Court of First Instance of Manila, Branch XVIII.
Gilberto Llamoso y Ortacio and Dominador Aguilar y Dayao were defendants-appellants who appealed the judgment of conviction on automatic review.
Oscar Padilla and Lagim Lagunera were co-accused, with Padilla acquitted by the trial court and Lagunera discharged for insufficiency of evidence.
The trial court convicted Llamoso and Aguilar, imposed the death penalty on each, ordered indemnity to the government and the heirs of the deceased, and required payment of costs.
The Court of First Instance's judgment was the subject of automatic review by the Supreme Court and further motions for new trial filed by Llamoso were considered by the Court.

Key Factual Allegations

The information alleged that on February 28, 1963, at nighttime and with the use of a motor vehicle, the accused entered the Motor Vehicles Office (MVO) on Dakota Street, Malate and, by force and intimidation and with firearms, stole P23,778.00 and killed Patrolman Domingo Daracan.
The prosecution alleged that the culprits used a United Taxi with Plate No. 125 Mla. '62 as a getaway vehicle.
Testimony described that five men boarded the taxi, that one man poked a gun at taxi driver Raul Empedrado, and that the assailants entered the MVO, ordered employees down, fired shots, and removed cash from the cashier's drawers.
Patrolman Domingo Daracan was found near the main door riddled with bullets, his service pistol missing, and sixteen empty shells were recovered near the scene.

Evidence and Forensics

Ballistic evidence consisted of sixteen empty shells gathered at the scene, later examined by the ballistic expert, and photographs and scene examinations were taken.
The abandoned taxi was examined and physical items recovered included rope pieces, a carbine stock, and a bullet found in the vehicle.
Bonifacio Marcelo, Manila Police Department Senior Fingerprint Expert, lifted latent prints from the taxi and identified a latent print from the inner right-side windshield (Exhibit "E-1") as matching the middle finger print of Dominador Aguilar.
Paraffin tests for gunpowder residue produced positive reactions on the hands of Dominador Aguilar, Gilberto Llamoso, and Oscar Padilla, and these results were documented in Exhibit "Y" and Exhibit "Y-1".
The autopsy report by Dr. Angelo Singian established three gunshot wounds on Patrolman Daracan and listed the cause of death as shock and profuse hemorrhage from the gunshot wounds (Exhibits "K" and "L").

Statements and Confessions

Gilberto Llamoso executed extrajudicial confessions on March 2, 1963, and thereafter affirmed their veracity under oath before the Assistant City Fiscal (Exhibits "V", "Z").
Dominador Aguilar executed multiple extrajudicial confessions on March 6 and March 9, 1963, including a written confession identifying his companions (Exhibits "