GR 45129; (July, 1937) (Digest)
G.R. No. 45129 ; July 27, 1937
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ANACLETO FOLLANTES and EUGENIO JACINTO, defendant. ANACLETO FOLLANTES, appellant.
FACTS
Anacleto Follantes and Eugenio Jacinto were charged with the murder of Julian Manauis. The victim and his son were cutting timber in a forest within the Echague Lumber Co. concession when Follantes, the encargado, warned them to stop. Two days later, Julian Manauis was found dead with multiple fatal wounds and his head severed. Initially, co-accused Eugenio Jacinto confessed to being the sole perpetrator. Later, he recanted that confession and implicated Follantes. At trial, Jacinto testified under oath that both he and Follantes killed the victim. Follantes was convicted of murder and sentenced to cadena perpetua. After conviction, Jacinto executed an affidavit of recantation, claiming he alone committed the crime and that his trial testimony against Follantes was coerced. Follantes appealed and filed a motion for a new trial based on this recantation.
ISSUE
Whether the recantation of the principal witness, Eugenio Jacinto, warrants the granting of a new trial to overturn the conviction of Anacleto Follantes.
RULING
No. The motion for a new trial is denied. The Supreme Court held that the recantation is insufficient to discredit Jacinto’s testimony given in open court. Trial testimony given under oath carries more weight than a subsequent extrajudicial recantation, which is inherently unreliable and often motivated by considerations other than the truth. The Court found Jacinto’s trial testimony credible and corroborated by other evidence, such as Follantes’s prior threat to the victim and his presence with Jacinto near the time of the crime. The recantation did not create reasonable doubt sufficient to justify a new trial or acquittal. The conviction of Anacleto Follantes for murder is affirmed.
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