GR 216728; (June, 2018) (Digest)
G.R. No. 216728 , June 4, 2018
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee vs. DECITO FRANCISCO y VILLAGRACIA, Accused-Appellant
FACTS
The prosecution’s evidence established that on September 23, 2001, at a wake in Tacloban City, accused-appellant Decito Francisco suddenly approached Jaime Noriega III from behind and stabbed him with a knife. The victim, who was seated and watching a card game, fell and later died from the wound. Prosecution witnesses, including the victim’s uncle, positively identified Francisco as the assailant. Francisco was apprehended by police later that same evening. The defense presented a different version, claiming Francisco was himself attacked by two strangers while riding his pedicab, and he stabbed one of them in self-defense. The Regional Trial Court convicted Francisco of Murder, qualified by treachery, and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction in toto.
ISSUE
Whether the guilt of accused-appellant for Murder has been proven beyond reasonable doubt.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the crime from Murder to Homicide. The Court upheld the factual findings of the lower courts, giving weight to the positive identification by prosecution witnesses. The defense of self-defense was correctly rejected, as Francisco failed to prove the essential elements, particularly unlawful aggression, and presented no evidence of any injury sustained from his alleged assailants. However, the Court found that the qualifying circumstance of treachery was not sufficiently established. The prosecution failed to prove that Francisco consciously adopted a specific mode of attack intended to ensure the victim’s defenselessness. The attack from behind, while sudden, did not by itself establish that Francisco had deliberately chosen this method to eliminate any risk to himself. Absent this specific proof of deliberate mode selection, treachery cannot be appreciated. Consequently, the crime is Homicide, not Murder. The penalty was reduced to an indeterminate sentence of six years and one day of prision mayor, as minimum, to seventeen years of reclusion temporal, as maximum. Civil indemnity and moral damages were set at Fifty Thousand Pesos (₱50,000.00) each.