GR 126042; (October, 1998) (Digest)
G.R. No. 126042 , December 15, 1997.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ISIDRO MIJARES, accused-appellant.
FACTS
Accused-appellant Isidro Mijares was charged with the murder of six-year-old Marissa Agujar. The prosecution’s case was built on circumstantial evidence. On June 19, 1995, Marissa was last seen alive with the appellant at a store in the late afternoon, where he gave her money for candy. Her body was discovered on June 26, 1995, in an abandoned house, showing a fatal sliced wound on the neck and her clothes inverted, suggesting possible sexual assault. A pair of slippers found at the crime scene was identified as belonging to Elizabeth Oglos, who testified that appellant had used them without her permission. Appellant had previously lived with the victim’s family and was known to the child. He also had a quarrel with the victim’s mother’s live-in partner, Adlai Mides, on the day of the disappearance. The Regional Trial Court convicted appellant of murder and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua.
ISSUE
Whether the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution is sufficient to prove the guilt of the accused-appellant beyond reasonable doubt.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s decision and acquitted the accused-appellant. The Court held that for circumstantial evidence to sustain a conviction, the circumstances proven must constitute an unbroken chain leading to one fair and reasonable conclusion pointing to the accused, to the exclusion of all others, and must produce a moral certainty of guilt. In this case, the circumstances—that appellant was last seen with the victim, that he used slippers later found at the crime scene, and that he had a quarrel with the victim’s guardian—did not form an unbroken chain and admitted of other reasonable hypotheses consistent with innocence. The evidence failed to meet the test of moral certainty. Where the evidence admits of two interpretations, one consistent with guilt and another with innocence, the accused must be acquitted.