GR 36083; (March, 1932) (Digest)
G.R. No. 36083 ; March 31, 1932
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ROMAN DAMIAO, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
The accused, Roman Damiao, was convicted by the Court of First Instance of Oriental Misamis of frustrated murder for attacking Cayetano Dablio with a bolo, inflicting wounds that rendered the victim’s left forearm permanently useless. The information alleged the qualifying circumstance of treachery and the aggravating circumstance of evident premeditation. Damiao initially pleaded guilty. After judgment was rendered sentencing him to an indeterminate penalty, he filed an unverified motion for reconsideration, seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and substitute a plea of not guilty, but the motion lacked an affidavit of merits.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred in denying the accused’s motion to withdraw his plea of guilty and substitute a plea of not guilty after judgment had been rendered.
RULING
No. The trial court did not err. First, the motion was filed after the accused had already given notice of appeal, at which point the trial court had lost jurisdiction over the case. Second, a post-judgment motion to change a plea is equivalent to a petition for a new trial and must comply with procedural requirements; it must be verified and supported by an affidavit of merits, which the accused failed to provide. However, the Supreme Court modified the penalty imposed. Applying the Revised Penal Code, the penalty for frustrated murder is presidio mayor maximum to cadena temporal medium. With the aggravating circumstance of evident premeditation offset by the mitigating circumstance of a plea of guilty, the penalty should be imposed in the medium degree. Thus, the accused was sentenced to twelve years and one day of reclusion temporal, with indemnity and costs.
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