GR 1331; (August, 1903) (Digest)
G.R. No. 1331 : August 25, 1903
THE UNITED STATES, complainant-appellee, vs. MELECIO MACALINTAL and ISIDRO PALAD, defendants-appellants.
FACTS:
On the night of September 12, 1902, Isidro Palad’s mother, Maria Estevan, fell ill. Believing her sickness was caused by witchcraft, Palad struck her and demanded the name of the witch. His mother identified Saturnina Austria. Palad, aided by his brother-in-law Melecio Macalintal, went to Saturnina’s house, forcibly took her to Batong-Uling, and subjected her to ill-treatment to compel her to cure the sick woman. This included cutting off her ears and throwing her into a river. During this assault, Saturnina’s head struck a rock, causing a fatal fracture. The accused claimed they acted only to force Saturnina to lift the supposed witchcraft and that her death was accidental. An autopsy confirmed the injuries and cause of death. The provincial fiscal filed an information charging the defendants with the crime of murder.
ISSUE:
Whether the accused are guilty of murder or the lesser crime of homicide.
RULING:
The Supreme Court found the accused guilty of homicide, not murder. The Court held that the qualifying circumstance of cruelty (alevosía) was not present. The accused did not have the deliberate and inhuman intent to kill or augment the victim’s suffering. Instead, they acted under a false belief in witchcraft and their actions were aimed at compelling the victim to cure the sick woman. Their guilt as co-principals by direct participation in homicide was fully established.
The Court considered the concurrence of mitigating circumstances: (1) passion and obfuscation arising from their sincere but erroneous belief in witchcraft, and (2) the incomplete justifying circumstance of an act committed in avoidance of an evil (under Article 11 of the Penal Code), due to their ignorance. However, the aggravating circumstance of abuse of superiority was also present. Offsetting these, the penalty was imposed in its minimum degree.
Applying Section 29 of General Orders No. 58, the Court ruled that since homicide is necessarily included in the charge of murder, the judgment of the court below was reversed. The defendants were sentenced each to thirteen years of reclusión temporal, with the corresponding accessories, and ordered to indemnify the heirs of the deceased.