G.R. No. 12635; September 25, 1917
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. VICENTE REYES, defendant-appellant.
FACTS:
The defendant-appellant, Vicente Reyes, killed a soldier of the United States Army named Guiseppe Goggiano during a quarrel over a card game. Reyes struck Goggiano on the head with a baston (stick), which caused fatal injuries. The trial court found Reyes guilty of homicide, rejecting his claim of self-defense, and sentenced him to fourteen years, eight months, and one day of reclusion temporal, with corresponding accessory penalties, indemnity to the heirs of the deceased, and costs. On appeal, Reyes argued that the trial court erred in not applying the mitigating circumstance under Article 9, No. 3 of the Penal Code, which applies when the offender had no intention to commit so grave a wrong as that which resulted.
ISSUE:
Whether the mitigating circumstance under Article 9, No. 3 of the Penal Codethat the offender had no intention to cause so great a wrong as that committedshould be applied in favor of the appellant.
RULING:
No. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment, holding that the mitigating circumstance was not applicable. The Court emphasized that the intention of the offender must be deduced from the nature of the act and the means employed. Citing a series of decisions from the Supreme Court of Spain, the Court ruled that when the means used are adequate and proportionate to produce the resulting evil, the mitigating circumstance cannot be invoked. In this case, striking a person on the head with a bastonan implement capable of fracturing the cranium and causing deathdemonstrated a proportionate means to the fatal outcome. There was no “notorious disproportion” between the means employed and the evil produced that would indicate a lack of intention to cause such grave harm. Consequently, the sentence imposed by the trial court was in accordance with law and was upheld.
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