GR 1401; (January, 1904) (Digest)
G.R. No. 1401 : January 27, 1904
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ESTEBAN BARE, ET AL., defendants-appellants.
FACTS:
The defendants were charged with the crime of brigandage. The Court of First Instance convicted several of them, imposing the death penalty on Esteban Bare and Donato Rodriguez, life imprisonment (cadena perpetua) on Vicente Armiso, and twenty years of imprisonment on Fulgencio Enano and Bernardo Olbis. The case was elevated to the Supreme Court for review of the death sentences and appeal for the other three. The guilt of all five appellants was established in the record. The evidence showed that Esteban Bare directly and actively participated in the attack and sacking of the Constabulary barracks in Surigao and in the murder of Captain Clark. Donato Rodriguez, a municipal policeman, joined the brigands at the barracks during the attack, was given a revolver, but separated from the band shortly thereafter, took no part in the assault, and presented himself to local authorities the following night. Vicente Armiso, a Constabulary member, participated in the assault on his own barracks and fired shots at the provincial warden.
ISSUE:
Whether the penalty of death imposed on Donato Rodriguez by the trial court was proper, considering his degree of participation in the crime of brigandage.
RULING:
No. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment with respect to Esteban Bare, Vicente Armiso, Fulgencio Enano, and Bernardo Olbis. However, it reversed the death sentence for Donato Rodriguez. The Court found a great difference in the degree of guilt between Rodriguez and Bare. Rodriguez’s connection with the brigand band was momentary and transient; he did not enter or leave the town with them, did not participate in the assault, and separated from the band at the barracks. While his status as a municipal policeman was an aggravating circumstance, his culpability was not equal to that of Bare, who committed grave crimes during the attack. The Court found Rodriguez’s level of involvement similar to that of Vicente Armiso, who was sentenced to life imprisonment. Since Rodriguez did not commit acts as serious as Armiso’s, there was no reason to impose a heavier penalty. Accordingly, Rodriguez was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Court also clarified that under Act No. 518, the penalty for brigandage is prision (imprisonment), not cadena; thus, the cadena perpetua penalty for Armiso was modified to life imprisonment.