GR 166326; (January, 2006) (Digest)
G.R. No. 166326 ; January 25, 2006
ESMERALDO RIVERA, ISMAEL RIVERA, EDGARDO RIVERA, Petitioners, vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Respondent.
FACTS
Petitioners Esmeraldo, Ismael, and Edgardo Rivera were charged with Attempted Murder. The prosecution alleged that on May 3, 1998, in Dasmariñas, Cavite, the petitioners, conspiring together, attacked Ruben Rodil. After a prior altercation, they ganged up on him, with Esmeraldo and Ismael mauling him with fist blows, causing him to fall. While Rodil was defenseless on the ground, Edgardo hit him three times on the head with a hollow block. The assault ceased only upon the arrival of policemen. Rodil sustained lacerated wounds, cerebral concussion, and multiple abrasions.
The petitioners presented a different version, claiming the incident was a sudden quarrel instigated by Rodil. They denied using a hollow block and asserted that Rodil’s injuries resulted from hitting a lamp post during a struggle. The Regional Trial Court convicted them of Frustrated Murder. On appeal, the Court of Appeals modified the conviction to Attempted Murder.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals correctly convicted the petitioners of Attempted Murder.
RULING
Yes, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction for Attempted Murder. The Court held that the prosecution successfully proved the concurrence of intent to kill and the qualifying circumstance of treachery. Intent to kill, a subjective state of mind, was properly deduced from the nature of the weapon used—a hollow block—and the location of the injuries inflicted, specifically the three blows to the victim’s head while he was already down and helpless. This demonstrated a determined purpose to cause death.
Furthermore, the Court found that treachery attended the commission of the crime. The attack was sudden and unexpected, executed in a manner that deprived the victim of any opportunity to defend himself or retaliate. The petitioners employed means which directly and specially ensured the execution of the crime without risk to themselves. The victim, having been first subdued by fist blows from two assailants, was rendered completely vulnerable before the third assailant struck his head with the hollow block. This method constituted alevosia. Consequently, the crime was properly qualified to Attempted Murder, as all acts of execution were commenced but the crime was not produced due to timely police intervention, not the petitioners’ own desistance. The penalty was accordingly imposed under the Revised Penal Code.