GR 42165; (November, 1934) (Digest)
G.R. No. 42165 ; November 12, 1934
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. VICENTE MATBAGON, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
The defendant, Vicente Matbagon, and the deceased, Marciano Retubado, had a fight at a cockpit around midnight. They were separated, but not before they had bitten each other. About half an hour later, as the deceased was walking home with his son, the defendant, who was waiting near a tree, approached and stabbed the deceased, resulting in fatal wounds. The trial court convicted the defendant of murder, qualified by treachery, and considered nocturnity as an aggravating circumstance offset by the mitigating circumstance of passion and obfuscation.
ISSUE
1. Whether the crime was committed with treachery (alevosia).
2. Whether nocturnity should be considered as an aggravating circumstance.
3. Whether the mitigating circumstance of passion and obfuscation is present.
RULING
The Supreme Court modified the conviction from murder to homicide.
1. On Treachery: There was no treachery. The defendant was seen by the deceased’s son as he approached from about a braza away. The attack was not executed in a manner that specially ensured its execution without risk to the defendant from any defense the victim might make.
2. On Nocturnity: Nocturnity is not an aggravating circumstance in this case. The provision under the Revised Penal Code requires that nighttime facilitate the commission of the offense. Here, the nighttime was not deliberately sought nor taken advantage of by the defendant to facilitate the crime or ensure impunity; it was merely incidental to the prior altercation.
3. On Passion and Obfuscation: This mitigating circumstance is not applicable. Approximately half an hour had passed between the initial fight and the killing, indicating the attack was motivated by revenge, not by a sudden, uncontrollable impulse following immediate provocation.
The Court found the defendant guilty of homicide without any aggravating or mitigating circumstances. He was sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of 8 years of prision mayor to 14 years, 8 months, and 1 day of reclusion temporal, and ordered to indemnify the heirs of the deceased.
AI Generated by Armztrong.