GR 1076; (May, 1903) (Digest)
G.R. No. 1076 : May 9, 1903
THE UNITED STATES, complainant-appellee, vs. JACINTO MARTINEZ, ET AL., defendants-appellants.
FACTS:
On June 7, 1902, Jacinto Martinez, a secret agent of the Constabulary, together with three others, arrested Domingo Uson and Victoriano Pano in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, on suspicion of stealing carabaos. The suspects were taken to a barrio in Murcia, where they were tied elbow to elbow. Martinez then cruelly ill-treated them by beating them with the butt of his revolver and submerging them in an estero. Afterward, he took the drenched victims to a police station, where he continued to beat them. As a result, Victoriano Pano died on June 9, and Domingo Uson died three days later. Medical examinations confirmed that both deaths were caused by the injuries inflicted. Separate prosecutions for the two murders were consolidated into a single case upon motion of the defense counsel, and an amended information was filed.
ISSUE:
Whether the accused, Jacinto Martinez, is guilty of two counts of murder qualified by treachery (alevosia).
RULING:
Yes, the accused is guilty of two counts of murder. The Supreme Court affirmed that the killings constituted murder under Article 403 of the Penal Code due to the presence of treachery (alevosia). The victims were tied and defenseless, ensuring the execution of the act without risk to the accused. The Court found the evidence, including eyewitness testimony, sufficient to convict Martinez as the sole direct perpetrator.
The Court applied two mitigating circumstances: (1) lack of intent to commit so grave a wrong (Article 9, No. 3), as Martinez acted in an excess of zeal to punish the suspects without intending to kill them; and (2) the special mitigating circumstance of the accused’s “nativity and illiteracy” under Article 11. No aggravating circumstances were found to be present.
Consequently, for each murder, the penalty was reduced by one degree from the prescribed penalty for murder. Martinez was sentenced to fourteen years of cadena temporal for each count, with the corresponding accessories, and ordered to indemnify the heirs of each victim with 1,000 Mexican pesos. The defense’s objection regarding the consolidation of the two charges into one information was rejected, as the consolidation was done at its own instance and caused no substantial violation of rights. The judgment of the lower court was modified accordingly.