G.R. No. 126042 , December 15, 1997.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ISIDRO MIJARES, accused-appellant.

FACTS

The victim, 6-year-old Marissa Agujar, was last seen alive with the accused-appellant, Isidro Mijares, on the evening of June 19, 1995. Prosecution witness, 7-year-old Arzen Lloyd Laurente, testified that he and Marissa were at a store when they met Mijares, a friend of Marissa’s mother. Mijares gave Marissa one peso to buy candy, held her hand, and led her away from the store and away from her home. This was the last time Marissa was seen alive. Her decomposed body was discovered five to seven days later. A pair of slippers, identified by witness Elizabeth Oglos as her “Rambo” slippers which Mijares had taken from her on June 17, 1995, was found near the victim’s body at the crime scene. Mijares denied these allegations, claiming he had his own slippers and was not at the store. The trial court convicted Mijares of murder, but the majority opinion of the Supreme Court acquitted him.

ISSUE

Whether the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution is sufficient to establish the guilt of accused-appellant Isidro Mijares for the crime of murder beyond reasonable doubt.

RULING

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Bellosillo voted to AFFIRM the trial court’s conviction. He found the circumstantial evidence sufficient to establish Mijares’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The two most damning pieces of evidence were: (1) the testimony of Arzen Lloyd Laurente that Mijares was the last person seen with the victim, holding her hand and leading her away from her home towards the direction where her body was later found; and (2) the pair of slippers belonging to Elizabeth Oglos, which Mijares had taken and was seen wearing, found near the victim’s body. The dissent found the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses credible and without ill motive. It also noted other incriminating circumstances: Mijares’s quarrel with the victim’s mother’s partner over a stolen hammer on the night of the disappearance, his failure to sleep at his expected residence on subsequent nights, his attempt to run when seen by the victim’s mother, and his sudden departure when he learned he was a suspect. The dissent concluded that these circumstances formed an unbroken chain leading to the reasonable and moral certainty that Mijares committed the crime.