GR 42122; (December, 1934) (Digest)
G.R. No. 42122, December 1, 1934
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. INOCENTES MOLDES, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
On the night of April 3, 1934, during a dance in Abuyog, Leyte, appellant Inocentes Moldes insisted on dancing out of turn and was reproved by the deceased, the master of ceremonies. Angered, Moldes went to the porch, cut down decorations with his bolo, went to the yard, and repeatedly challenged everyone to a fight. The deceased, unarmed, approached him in a friendly manner. As the deceased reached the ground, Moldes struck him with the bolo, inflicting a severe wound on the left arm that severed the brachial artery. The deceased later died on April 15, 1934, after treatment by a local “curandero” failed to stop the hemorrhage. Moldes claimed self-defense, alleging the deceased was the aggressor who attacked him with a cane and a bolo, which he wrestled away. The trial court disbelieved the defense version and convicted Moldes of homicide.
ISSUE
Whether the appellant is criminally liable for homicide despite the alleged contributory negligence in the medical treatment of the deceased’s wound.
RULING
Yes. The appellant is criminally liable. The Court affirmed the conviction for homicide. The general rule is that an accused is responsible for the natural consequences of his felonious act. The infliction of a dangerous wound calculated to endanger life renders the offender liable for the resulting death, even if the immediate cause was erroneous or unskillful medical treatment. The unavailability of proper modern surgical service in the outlying barrio does not relieve the appellant of responsibility. The claim of self-defense was rejected, as the evidence established appellant was the aggressor. The Court modified the penalty to an indeterminate sentence of six years and one day of prision mayor to fourteen years, eight months, and one day of reclusion temporal.
AI Generated by Armztrong.