GR L 5324; (December, 1910) (Digest)

G.R. No. L‑5324, December 28 1910
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff‑appellee, vs. AGAPITO LASADA, defendant‑appellant

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FACTS: 1. Complaint and Trial On 9 December 1908 the provincial fiscal of Leyte filed a criminal complaint for murder against Agapito Lasada, Santiago Lasada, Macario Lasada and Panfilio Closa. Lasada secured a separate trial, pleaded not guilty, and was convicted of homicide, sentenced to 17 years 4 months 1 day of reclusion temporal plus indemnity.

2. Victim Pedro Sopriengco, a Chinese resident of Tarragona, Abuyog, Leyte, disappeared on 30 March 1908. His body was discovered on 31 March near the Balacoue River, bearing a severe forehead blow, a deep side wound, and livid marks on face/neck. The local mediquillo testified that the forehead blow was the proximate cause of death.

3. Prior Conviction Lasada had earlier been convicted (first instance) of lesiones graves for assaulting Sopriengco on 23 February 1906, sentenced to four months’ confinement and ₱50 indemnity. The Supreme Court affirmed guilt but reduced the term to 25 days, to be served in the municipal jail of Abuyog.

4. Non‑Compliance with Sentence Municipal President Vicente Tiauzon failed to detain Lasada as ordered; Lasada remained free in town, often at Tiauzon’s house, on the day of Sopriengco’s murder.

5. Prosecution Evidence Key witnesses (Espiridion Moldes, Benito Resardo, Lorenzo Gonzaga, Lope Margate, Ramon Mandia) testified that they saw Lasada and the co‑accused beating Sopriengco near the river on the afternoon of 30 March, and that Lasada threatened the victim.

6. Defense Arguments (a) The prosecution failed to prove Lasada’s participation beyond reasonable doubt; (b) The wounds identified by the medical examiner did not incontrovertibly link Lasada to the fatal blow; (c) Physical impossibility of Lasada traveling 1216 miles while supposedly confined; (d) Motive alleged (preventing a complaint against the municipal president) was unsubstantiated hearsay.

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ISSUE: Whether the evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that Agapito Lasada personally inflicted the mortal blow on Pedro Sopriengco, thereby justifying his conviction for homicide.

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RULING: The Supreme Court acquitted Agapito Lasada.

Reasoning
– The prosecution’s proof of causation was inadequate; the medical testimony identified the fatal forehead blow but did not connect that blow to Lasada.
– The eyewitness accounts, though numerous, were inconsistent and insufficiently corroborated to establish Lasada’s direct participation in the killing.
– Physical evidence showed Lasada was under a confinement order and was not demonstrably capable of traveling the distance required to commit the murder.
– The alleged motive (preventing a complaint against the municipal president) rested on hearsay and was immaterial absent proof of participation.
– In light of these deficiencies, reasonable doubt existed; consequently, the conviction could not stand.

Result: Conviction set aside; Agapito Lasada was released.