G.R. No. 1575 : March 24, 1904
THE UNITED STATES, complainant-appellee, vs. LAUREANO MIJARES, ET AL., defendants-appellants.

FACTS:
On December 3, 1902, an information was filed charging Pedro Mijares, Laureano Mijares, Pedro Git, and others with the murder of Miguel Pastor. The prosecution alleged that on or about November 11, 1901, the Mijares brothers, motivated by a desire to appropriate Pastor’s lands and due to resentment over his mistreatment of their sister (his wife), instigated Pedro Git and Laurencio Sernal to kill Pastor. They proposed the crime, promising payment, and specifically instructed that it be done with clubs to avoid bloodshed so the death could be attributed to the ongoing cholera epidemic. Pursuant to this plan, Git struck Pastor while he slept, and with the help of others, bound and killed him. The body was hastily buried. The crime was discovered almost a year later when a passerby noticed bloodstains around a fresh grave in the cemetery. Exhumation revealed a body with a fatal head wound and a rope tied around its neck. Pedro Git confessed and testified in detail, implicating the Mijares brothers as the instigators. The Court of First Instance convicted Laureano and Pedro Mijares and sentenced them to death. They appealed.

ISSUE:
Whether the guilt of the appellants, Laureano and Pedro Mijares, as instigators of the crime of murder, has been proven beyond reasonable doubt, and if so, what is the proper penalty to be imposed.

RULING:
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty. The testimony of Pedro Git, the actual perpetrator, was found to be spontaneous, frank, and credible. It was corroborated by circumstantial evidence, including the motive of the Mijares brothers (resentment and land-grabbing) and their conduct after the crime. The Court found the defense witnesses (relatives of the appellants) not credible and their testimony insufficient to overcome Git’s account. The crime was qualified as murder due to alevosia (treachery), as the attack was made while the victim was asleep and unable to defend himself. However, the Court held that no generic aggravating or mitigating circumstances attended the participation of the appellants as instigators. Applying the penalty in its medium degree, the Court sentenced each appellant to cadena perpetua (life imprisonment) with the corresponding accessory penalties, and ordered them to pay, jointly and severally, an indemnity of 1,000 pesos to the heirs of the deceased.

DISSENTING OPINION:
Justices Willard and Johnson dissented, arguing that the death penalty should be affirmed. They contended that the appellants, having specifically instructed the manner of the crime’s commission, had knowledge of the aggravating circumstances of treachery, nocturnity, and dwelling at the time of their cooperation. Therefore, these circumstances should aggravate their liability and warrant the imposition of the capital punishment.