GR 1614; (April, 1904) (Digest)
G.R. No. 1614 , April 9, 1904
THE UNITED STATES, complainant-appellee, vs. ANACLETO EMBATE, defendant-appellant.
FACTS:
The defendant, Anacleto Embate, was charged with and convicted of homicide for the death of a child. The child had been seriously ill with fever for three weeks. On the day of the incident, the child lay down on a damp floor. The defendant told the child to lie on a mat instead. When the child did not obey, the defendant struck the child’s thighs with a slipper and pulled (or, as some witnesses stated, pushed and dragged) the child toward the mat, causing the child to fall heavily on the floor. The child died one or two days later. At trial, witnesses generally attributed the death to the child’s pre-existing illness. The examining doctor testified that the child’s body showed signs of a serious heart disease and that the bruises from the blows could not have been the sole cause of death but might have contributed to accelerating the fatal result. When asked if the blows were the cause of death, the doctor stated that, as no other immediate cause was known, it could be inferred the blows were the sole cause that precipitated the fatal result of the child’s illness.
ISSUE:
Whether the evidence is sufficient to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant’s acts constituted the crime of homicide.
RULING:
No. The Supreme Court found the medical testimony insufficient to establish the true cause of the child’s death as homicide. The doctor’s testimony, based solely on a post-mortem examination, was equivocal and did not provide conclusive proof that the defendant’s acts directly caused the death. However, the Court found that the defendant did commit a misdemeanor by striking the child to inflict punishment. Applying Section 29 of General Orders, No. 58, the Court modified the judgment. The defendant was acquitted of the charge of homicide but was convicted of a lesser offense. He was sentenced to fifteen days of arresto and to pay the costs applicable to a prosecution before a justice of the peace. The conviction for homicide and its corresponding penalty were reversed.