GR 42249; (January, 1935) (Digest)
G.R. No. 42249 ; January 22, 1935
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ISIDRO VIZCARA, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
The accused, Isidro Vizcara, was a detention prisoner in Bilibid Prison. On January 1, 1934, after a dispute over a bench during a vaudeville show, he confronted another prisoner, Eugenio Motos. A fight ensued where Vizcara struck Motos and then held Motos’s head in a “head lock” under his left arm. During the struggle, they fell to the ground. After being separated, Motos fell unconscious and later died. The autopsy revealed the cause of death was compression myelitis and hemorrhages of the spinal cord secondary to a traumatic dislocation of the third cervical vertebra. Vizcara was convicted of homicide.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred in finding that the cause of Motos’s death was the act of Vizcara in holding him in a head lock, and not the subsequent fall during the struggle.
RULING
No, the trial court did not err. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that the evidence sustained the finding that the fatal neck injury was caused by Vizcara’s act of holding Motos’s head in a vise-like grip (the head lock) during the struggle, and not merely by the fall onto level ground. The only mitigating circumstance was lack of intent to commit so grave a wrong. The indemnity to the heirs was increased from P500 to P1,000.
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