Title
People vs. Olfindo
Case
G.R. No. 22679
Decision Date
Dec 10, 1924
Three defendants, intoxicated and influenced by superstition, murdered an elderly woman and her son, falsely believing she caused a child's death. Convictions upheld despite witness retraction; penalties modified for separate crimes.
double murder
retraction of testimony
new trial

Case Summary (G.R. No. 22679)

Charges, Trial Court Findings, and Initial Procedural Posture

The information charged that, on or about July 10, 1923, in Viga, Catanduanes, the accused “did wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously, with evident premeditation and treachery, kill Maria Magdalena and Aproniano de la Cruz by choking Maria Magdalena and drowning her in the river, and tying a rope around the neck of Aproniano de la Cruz and drowning him in the river afterwards.”

The trial court found Gregorio Tongo, Micael Odi, and Domingo Olfindo guilty as principals for the murder of Maria Magdalena, and guilty as principals for the homicide of Aproniano de la Cruz. It further held Domingo Olfindo guilty as an accomplice in the murder of Maria Magdalena. The trial court imposed penalties of cadena perpetua for the principals and fourteen years, eight months and one day of cadena temporal for the accomplice, together with accessory penalties and an indemnification to the heirs of the deceased in the sum of P1,000.

After judgment, the three convicted defendants filed a motion for a new trial, alleging that the prosecution’s principal witness, Ignacio Ucero, had retracted his testimony by claiming he had falsely testified and that he knew nothing about the case. The trial court denied the motion. The defendants appealed not only from the conviction but also from the denial of the motion for a new trial.

Factual Background and Manner of the Crimes

The evidence described the death of a young daughter of Clemente Odi, which led to an extensive gathering at Clemente’s house in the barrio of San Isidro, municipality of Viga. Among the attendees were Domingo Olfindo, Rafael Tulang, Ignacio Ucero, Gregorio Tongo, and Micael Odi, who was identified as a brother of Clemente. During the event, some persons constructed a coffin in the basement of an adjoining house belonging to Gregorio Tongo, while others read the pasion in Clemente’s house, and still others moved between the two places. As the custom in the locality, an abundance of tuba was consumed, and Gregorio Tongo and Micael Odi became intoxicated.

In the evening, the persons present—including Domingo Olfindo, Rafael Tulang, Ignacio Ucero, Micael Odi, Julian Aldave, and Gregorio Tongo—discussed that the deceased girl had probably been bewitched by Maria Magdalena, an elderly woman reputed to possess knowledge of medicine and to treat minor ailments in the community. During this conversation, Domingo Olfindo proposed that Maria be killed. Micael Odi agreed and proposed that Aproniano de la Cruz, Maria’s young son, should also be put out of the way, believing he was a wizard like his mother. Both propositions were accepted. The group formed two parties: one consisting of Domingo Olfindo, Rafael Tulang, and Ignacio Ucero to kill Maria Magdalena, and another consisting of Gregorio Tongo, Micael Odi, and Julian Aldave to take the life of Aproniano de la Cruz.

The party assigned to kill Aproniano found him alone in his mother’s house in the sitio of Napo. Gregorio Tongo and Micael Odi entered, subdued him after a short struggle, tied a rope around his neck, and dragged him to a river, where they held him under water until he died. They then threw the body into a deep pit and covered it with earth. After burying Aproniano and returning to San Isidro, they found that the party assigned to kill Maria had desisted due to fear of her supposed witchcraft, and it appeared that Domingo Olfindo, Rafael Tulang, and Ignacio Ucero had backed out from the plan.

At that point, Gregorio Tongo stated that he would kill Maria if no one else would do it, and he asked Domingo Olfindo where Maria could be found. Domingo replied that Maria was in the house of his father, Segundo Olfindo, where she was treating him for illness, but that she would soon arrive. Domingo instructed his son Gaudencio to fetch Maria. Gaudencio complied and returned promptly, reporting that Maria would arrive in a few moments. Upon learning this, Gregorio Tongo and Micael Odi hid downstairs in Domingo’s house where it was dark. When Maria arrived and began to ascend the stairs, Gregorio Tongo, without warning, seized her by the feet and dragged her to the river, where both defendants held her under water until life was extinct. With the assistance of Ignacio Ucero, Rafael Tulang, and Domingo Olfindo, the body was taken about six hundred meters away and buried in a grave so shallow that the remains surfaced about two weeks later, leading to the discovery of the crime and the apprehension of the defendants.

The Court stated that these facts were conclusively proven by repeated confessions of all the accused and by the testimony of witnesses.

The Motion for a New Trial and the Role of Ignacio Ucero

The principal witness issue centered on Ignacio Ucero, who had testified for the prosecution. After trial, Ucero signed an affidavit asserting that his testimony at court was false and that he did not know anything about the case. The defense invoked this affidavit as the ground for a motion for a new trial.

The trial court denied the motion. On appeal, the defendants treated the denial as their only assignment of error, contending effectively that the affidavit undermined the credibility of Ucero’s trial testimony.

Appellate Review and the Court’s Approach to the New Trial Ground

The Supreme Court held that the trial court did not commit error in denying the motion for a new trial. It emphasized that, even leaving out Ucero’s testimony, the record still contained sufficient evidence to sustain the convictions. The Court further conducted its own assessment of the testimony and concluded that Ucero had told the truth on the witness stand and had not told the truth in his affidavit. It regarded Ucero’s claim that he was not present in San Isidro when the crime was planned as inconsistent with the rest of the evidence.

The Court also furnished contextual reasons for why retraction might occur. It noted that Ucero was a brother-in-law of Domingo Olfindo, and it observed that popular opinion in the locality favored the defendants. It concluded that the retraction could be readily understood in that light. The Court additionally stated the general principle that retractions ordinarily deserve little weight.

To reinforce this principle, the Court cited United States vs. Dacir (26 Phil., 503), which held that loose statements or even sworn statements made after trial that vary or contradict testimony at trial would rarely be sufficient—absent special circumstances—to raise a doubt that would justify a new trial when the trial judge had accepted the trial testimony as true.

Although the defendants’ assignment of error targeted the denial of the new trial motion, the Court recognized that their appeal from the judgment of conviction, as permitted under U. S. vs. Abijan (1 Phil., 83), opened the whole case for review. It therefore examined not only the new trial ruling but also errors in the judgment.

The Parties’ Positions on Appeal and the Issues Raised by the Record

On the record presented, the defendants’ only assignment of error concerned the trial court’s denial of the motion for a new trial based on Ucero’s affidavit. They nonetheless appealed the conviction itself, enabling the Supreme Court to review the entire judgment.

The Supreme Court identified a distinct error in the trial court’s treatment of the offenses. The Court found that the trial court treated the offenses alleged in the information as one single crime and imposed penalties accordingly.

Legal Reasoning on Separate Crimes and Proper Penalties

In examining the judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that the trial court committed error. It relied on United States vs. Balaba (37 Phil., 260), stating that treating the offenses as one single crime was not in accordance with governing doctrine. The Court held that two separate and distinct crimes were committed: (1) the homicide of Aproniano de la Cruz, and (2) the murder of Maria Magdalena. It stated that Gregorio Tongo and Micael Odi were guilty as principals of both crimes.

The Court then directed the imposition of correct penalties while taking into account aggravating and extenuating circumstances. It considered nocturnity as an aggravating circumstance and intoxication as an extenuating circumstance. It ordered that Gregorio Tongo and Micael Odi be sentenced to cadena perpetua for the murder of Maria Magdalena and to twelve years and one day of reclusion temporal for the homicide of Aproniano de la Cruz.

Disposition, Modification of Judgment, and Penalties for Each Defendant

The Supreme Court modified the judgment with respect to Gregorio Tongo and Micael Odi. For Maria Magdalena (murder), each of those defendants was sentenced to suffer cadena perpetua, with the accessory penalties, and the Court imposed the indemnification to the heirs of the deceased in the amount of P1,000, jointly and severally with the appropriate liability arrangement specified in the dispositive portion. For Aproniano de la Cruz (homicide), each was sentenced to suffer twelve years and one day of reclusion temporal, with the accessory penalties, and was held jointly and

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