GR 124914; (July, 1997) (Digest)
G.R. No. 124914 July 2, 1997
JESUS UGADDAN, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS and PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Jesus Ugaddan, a police corporal, was charged with Homicide for the death of fellow policeman Paulino Baquiran, Jr. The incident occurred on January 27, 1991, at the Geraldine Canteen in Tumauini, Isabela. The prosecution’s version, as affirmed by the trial court and the Court of Appeals, established that an entertainer complained to Ugaddan that Baquiran had poked a gun at her. Ugaddan then stood up, approached Baquiran from behind, drew his .38 caliber service gun, positioned himself in front and to the right of Baquiran, and shot him once in the neck. Baquiran was brought to the hospital where, before his death, he gave a dying declaration to Pat. Juan Anapi, identifying Ugaddan as the shooter. Ugaddan’s defense was that Baquiran, who was allegedly drunk, grabbed his gun from its holster, and they grappled for it. During the struggle, a shot was fired from Ugaddan’s gun pointed upwards, and another shot was fired from outside the canteen’s window, which allegedly hit Baquiran. The Regional Trial Court convicted Ugaddan of Homicide, a decision affirmed by the Court of Appeals with a modification on the nomenclature of the minimum penalty.
ISSUE
1. Whether the factual findings and credibility assessments of the trial court and the Court of Appeals, which rejected petitioner’s defenses and found him guilty of Homicide, should be overturned.
2. Whether the dying declaration of the victim was credible and admissible.
RULING
The Supreme Court DENIED the petition and AFFIRMED the decision of the Court of Appeals. The Court upheld the factual findings of the lower courts, emphasizing that such findings are final and conclusive when supported by substantial evidence and absent any showing that significant facts were overlooked. The Court found petitioner’s defenses untenable:
1. The alleged grappling incident was improbable. If Baquiran was armed, he would not need to grab Ugaddan’s gun. Given Baquiran’s alleged drunken state and Ugaddan’s stocky build, it defied credulity that Baquiran could successfully grapple for the gun.
2. The trajectory of the bullet, entering the upper anterior neck and exiting the base left lateral aspect, was inconsistent with a shot from outside the window but consistent with the prosecution eyewitness’s account that Ugaddan shot Baquiran while the latter was seated.
3. The “two-shot theory” was an afterthought, not mentioned in Ugaddan’s counter-affidavit, and contradicted by credible eyewitness testimony that only one shot was heard from Ugaddan’s gun.
The Court also upheld the credibility and admissibility of the victim’s dying declaration, as it was made under the consciousness of impending death, clearly identified Ugaddan as the assailant, and was properly authenticated. The penalty imposed by the Court of Appeals was affirmed.