G.R. No. 37754 ; March 4, 1933
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. SILVINO VALDEZ, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

Silvino Valdez was convicted of homicide for stabbing and killing Egmidio Pangilinan. The prosecution’s evidence included the victim’s ante mortem declaration (Exhibit D), wherein Egmidio stated that Valdez wounded him because Valdez was preventing him (Egmidio) from stabbing his own wife, Maria Aragon. The incident occurred when Egmidio, armed with a dagger, attacked his wife in the house where Valdez, a barber, was working downstairs. Hearing screams, Valdez rushed upstairs unarmed, struggled with Egmidio for the dagger, and inflicted the fatal wounds during the struggle.

ISSUE

Whether Valdez is exempt from criminal liability under Article 11, paragraph 3 of the Revised Penal Code for acting in defense of a stranger.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction. Valdez acted in lawful defense of a stranger (Maria Aragon). All requisites under Article 11 are present: (1) unlawful aggression by Egmidio against his wife; (2) reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it, given the suddenness of the attack, the imminent danger, and the need to render the armed aggressor harmless; and (3) lack of sufficient provocation on the part of Valdez, who was not actuated by revenge or illegal motive. The Court found the defense’s theory of self-inflicted wounds false but held that the prosecution’s own evidence, particularly the ante mortem statement, established the justifying circumstance. Valdez is acquitted.

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