GR 1781; (May, 1905) (Digest)
G.R. No. 1781 : May 1, 1905
PARTIES:
Complainant-Appellee: The United States
Defendants-Appellants: Damaso Salvador, Marcelo de Jesus, Eustaquio de los Reyes, Paulino Bonifacio, and Eugenio Pangan
FACTS:
The case was prosecuted under Act No. 518. The trial court acquitted defendants Paulino Bonifacio and Eugenio Pangan. It convicted and sentenced defendants Damaso Salvador, Marcelo de Jesus, and Eustaquio de los Reyes to ten (10) years of imprisonment. Both the prosecution and some of the defendants appealed the judgment.
ISSUE:
1. What is the correct penalty to be imposed upon the convicted appellants, Damaso Salvador and Marcelo de Jesus, considering an alleged typographical error in the Spanish text of the amendatory Act No. 1121?
RULING:
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of appellants Damaso Salvador and Marcelo de Jesus but modified the penalty imposed.
1. On the Appeals: The judgment became final as to the acquitted defendants (Bonifacio and Pangan) and as to Eustaquio de los Reyes (who did not appeal). The appeal interposed by the prosecution could not be admitted, following the doctrine in Kepner v. United States, which prohibits the government from appealing an acquittal or altering a judgment in favor of a defendant who did not appeal. Thus, the Court only reviewed the appeal filed by Damaso Salvador and Marcelo de Jesus.
2. On the Correct Penalty: The Court found the appellants’ guilt to be well-established. However, it rectified an error in the application of the law. The trial court, relying on the Spanish text of Act No. 1121 (which amended Act No. 518), interpreted the penalty to be “imprisonment for a period less than twenty years.” The Supreme Court held this to be a typographical error in the Spanish translation. The governing English text of Act No. 518 prescribed the penalty as “death or imprisonment for not less than twenty years.” Therefore, the minimum penalty imposable was twenty (20) years, not a period less than twenty years.
DISPOSITIVE PORTION:
The Supreme Court modified the trial court’s decision. Appellants Damaso Salvador and Marcelo de Jesus were sentenced to twenty (20) years of imprisonment. The costs of the proceedings in both instances were assessed against them.