G.R. No. 138541 ; June 12, 2003
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Appellee, vs. JOSE LARRY COLONIA, Appellant.

FACTS

In the early morning of January 2, 1994, in Purok 2, Kiburiao, Quezon, Bukidnon, soldiers Leonardo Mallari and Antonio Urcinado were walking home from a disco. Mallari asked a group of men, which included the Colonia brothers, for a match. An argument ensued between Mallari and Eduardo Colonia, leading Mallari to kick Eduardo. As Urcinado tried to pacify Mallari, Rene Colonia struck Mallari’s head with a stick, causing him to fall face down. While Mallari was in this defenseless position, appellant Jose Larry Colonia stabbed him in the back with a hunting knife, causing his death. The prosecution’s case rested primarily on the eyewitness account of Urcinado.
The defense presented alibi and denial. Eduardo Colonia and a neighbor, Daylinda Oro, testified that all three brothers were asleep in their house at the time of the incident. The Regional Trial Court convicted Jose Larry Colonia of Murder, qualified by treachery, and sentenced him to life imprisonment. His brothers were acquitted. Appellant appealed, contesting the credibility of the eyewitness and the finding of treachery.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court erred in convicting the appellant of Murder, qualified by treachery, based on the evidence presented.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the crime to Homicide and the corresponding penalty. The Court found the testimony of eyewitness Antonio Urcinado credible, positive, and consistent. His narration of events was clear and remained unshaken on cross-examination. The defense of alibi could not prevail over this positive identification, especially as the defense failed to prove it was physically impossible for the appellant to have been at the crime scene.
However, the Court ruled that treachery was not sufficiently established. For treachery to qualify a killing to murder, the prosecution must prove that the means of execution were deliberately and consciously adopted to ensure the attack without risk to the assailant. The evidence showed that the attack arose from a sudden heated altercation. The stab wound was inflicted after Mallari had been felled by a blow from Rene Colonia. While this rendered the victim defenseless, the prosecution did not convincingly demonstrate that appellant had deliberately employed this method to ensure the killing without any risk to himself arising from the victim’s defense. The qualifying circumstance of treachery must be proven as clearly as the crime itself; here, it was not. Thus, the crime committed was Homicide, not Murder. The penalty was modified to an indeterminate sentence of 8 years and 1 day of prision mayor, as minimum, to 14 years, 8 months and 1 day of reclusion temporal, as maximum. The awards for actual damages, attorney’s fees, and litigation expenses were deleted for lack of basis, but temperate damages of ₱25,000 were awarded to the heirs.