G.R. No. L-28107. March 15, 1977.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff, vs. TOMAS NAVASCA, FLORENCIO GERALDES, LORENZO SOBERANO and MANUEL MARQUEZ, defendants.
FACTS
The accused, Tomas Navasca, Florencio Geraldes, Lorenzo Soberano, and Manuel Marquez, were charged with robbery with homicide committed by a band. The information alleged that on March 17, 1959, in Bansalan, Davao, while all armed, they conspired to rob Go So of P1,800.00 and, on the same occasion, shot and killed him. Before arraignment, Navasca was committed to a mental hospital after being found incapable of understanding the proceedings, suspending the case against him. Trial proceeded against the other three.
The prosecution evidence, primarily from the extra-judicial statements and court testimony of co-accused Lorenzo Soberano, established that the armed group went to the victim’s house. Soberano was posted as a guard outside. The others entered, demanded and received money from Go So, and then shot him multiple times, resulting in his death. The widow, Josefa Delejeros, testified to the robbery and shooting but could not identify the perpetrators due to fear. Geraldes and Soberano later repudiated their extra-judicial confessions, claiming coercion.
ISSUE
The core issue is whether the trial court correctly convicted the appellants and imposed the penalties of death for Geraldes and Marquez and reclusion perpetua for Soberano for the crime of robbery with homicide committed by a band.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions. The legal logic rests on the established conspiracy and the nature of the crime. Robbery with homicide under Article 294(1) of the Revised Penal Code, when committed by a band under Article 296, makes all members liable for every assault committed unless one attempted to prevent it. No such attempt was proven. The conspiracy was evident from the coordinated actions: the group, all armed, proceeded together to the victim’s house with the common purpose to rob, which culminated in the homicide.
Regarding penalties, the prescribed penalty is reclusion perpetua to death. The aggravating circumstance of the crime being committed by a band was present for all. For Geraldes and Marquez, with no mitigating circumstance to offset this aggravation, the imposition of the death penalty was correct. For Soberano, the Court upheld the trial court’s treatment of his act of testifying for the prosecution and revealing the crime’s details as a mitigating circumstance analogous to a plea of guilty. This mitigating circumstance offset the aggravating circumstance, warranting the lower penalty of reclusion perpetua. The Court also ordered the Director of the National Mental Hospital to examine Tomas Navasca to determine his present capacity to stand trial.
