GR 139751; (January, 2004) (Digest)
G.R. Nos. 139751-52; January 26, 2004
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. NOEL DARILAY, appellant.
FACTS
On April 19, 1997, in Tinambac, Camarines Sur, siblings Marilyn (8 years old) and Ailyn Arganda (7 years old) were sent by their parents to buy dried fish. While walking home, they were ambushed by their 15-year-old barriomate, appellant Noel Darilay. Darilay struck both girls with a piece of wood. Ailyn was rendered unconscious. When she awoke, Darilay and Marilyn were gone. Ailyn reported the incident. Marilyn’s body was later discovered near a river, naked and bearing injuries. The autopsy concluded she had been raped and died from skull fractures.
Darilay was charged with Attempted Murder for the attack on Ailyn and Rape with Homicide for the death of Marilyn. The Regional Trial Court convicted him on both counts, sentencing him to death for Rape with Homicide and imprisonment for Attempted Murder. The case was automatically elevated to the Supreme Court for review of the death penalty.
ISSUE
The primary issue was whether the prosecution proved Darilay’s guilt for the crimes of Rape with Homicide and Attempted Murder beyond reasonable doubt.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed Darilay’s convictions but modified the penalties and damages. The Court found the prosecution’s evidence conclusive. Ailyn’s positive identification of Darilay as their attacker was credible and consistent. For the rape of Marilyn, the medical findings of vaginal lacerations and the physical evidence at the scene, coupled with Darilay’s own actions in leading police to the body, established his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The killing was a consequence of the rape, constituting the special complex crime of Rape with Homicide.
However, applying Republic Act No. 9346 , which prohibits the death penalty, the Court reduced the sentence for Rape with Homicide. Darilay was sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of six years of prision mayor medium, as minimum, to seventeen years and four months of reclusion temporal medium, as maximum. The penalty for Attempted Murder was also affirmed. The Court awarded civil indemnity, moral, exemplary, and temperate damages to the victims’ heirs. Following Article 221 of the Family Code, Darilay’s parents were held subsidiarily liable for the civil damages due to his minority at the time of the crimes.