G.R. No. 136037 ; August 13, 2008
Severino David, Jr. y Echane and Timoteo Gianan, petitioners, vs. The People of the Philippines, respondents.

FACTS

The petitioners, Severino David, Jr. and Timoteo Gianan, were charged with frustrated homicide for the stabbing of Domingo Datalio on March 1, 1992, in Valenzuela, Metro Manila. The prosecution’s version, supported by the victim and a barangay tanod witness, Benigno David, alleged that while Datalio was walking alone in an alley, he was accosted by the two petitioners, whom he did not know. Severino David stabbed him, while Timoteo Gianan attempted to hit him with a stone. Datalio managed to flee and was hospitalized. The defense, however, presented a starkly different account. Severino David claimed that Datalio, who was drunk, aggressively knocked on his door, cursing and challenging him to a fight. When David went downstairs, Datalio allegedly attacked him with a fan knife. David asserted that he merely wrestled the knife away and, in the process, the knife wound up stabbing Datalio, constituting self-defense. Timoteo Gianan claimed he was merely a visitor who had left the scene before the incident.

ISSUE

The core issue is whether the petitioners are guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of frustrated homicide, specifically revolving around the credibility of the conflicting narratives and the validity of the claim of self-defense.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the conviction. The Court emphasized that factual findings of the trial court, especially when affirmed by the Court of Appeals, are generally binding and conclusive. The defense’s version was found to be inherently improbable and unsupported by credible evidence. For self-defense to exculpate an accused, the burden of proof shifts to them to establish by clear and convincing evidence the elements of unlawful aggression, reasonable necessity of the means employed, and lack of sufficient provocation. The Court found that David failed to discharge this burden. His claim that the victim was the unlawful aggressor was contradicted by the physical evidence and the credible testimony of the prosecution witnesses. The nature, location, and seriousness of Datalio’s abdominal stab wound were inconsistent with a reflexive, accidental wound incurred during a struggle, but rather indicated a deliberate attack.
Furthermore, the Court upheld the finding of conspiracy between David and Gianan. Conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it. It can be inferred from the conduct of the accused before, during, and after the crime, demonstrating a common purpose. The acts of David in stabbing the victim and Gianan in attempting to hit him with a stone, their simultaneous presence and coordinated actions, sufficiently proved a community of criminal design. Consequently, both were liable as principals. The medical evidence established that the stab wound inflicted was fatal and would have caused death were it not for timely medical intervention, thus consummating the felony of frustrated homicide.