GR 43558; (October, 1935) (Digest)
G.R. No. 43558 ; October 19, 1935
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FORTUNATO RAMOS, MACARIO ANTALAN, MARCELO MIGUEL and CATALINO AGUSTIN (alias BANONG), defendants-appellants.
FACTS
On January 9, 1935, a group attacked the house of 96-year-old Miguel Domincel in Tarlac. Domincel was shot and wounded, and a trunk containing valuables was stolen. During the investigation, accused Catalino Agustin, after his arrest, executed an affidavit implicating Fortunato Ramos, Marcelo Miguel, Macario Antalan, Francisco Cielo, and himself, naming Ramos as the organizer. Agustin, Antalan, and Miguel later signed confessions before the justice of the peace. The case was filed for robbery with frustrated homicide. After the record was forwarded to the Supreme Court, Antalan and Agustin withdrew their appeals. The appeal proceeded only for Ramos and Miguel.
ISSUE
Whether the appellants, Fortunato Ramos and Marcelo Miguel, should be convicted based on the evidence presented.
RULING
The Supreme Court ACQUITTED Fortunato Ramos but CONVICTED Marcelo Miguel of the crime of robbery with violence under Article 294(5) of the Revised Penal Code.
1. As to Fortunato Ramos: The only evidence against him was Domincel’s testimony that he recognized Ramos’s voice during the attack. The Court found this testimony unreliable due to Domincel’s likely impaired state from his wound, the existing bitter enmity between Domincel and Ramos over a land dispute, inconsistencies in Domincel’s statements, and his admission of bias against Ramos. Without corroborating evidence, Ramos’s conviction could not stand.
2. As to Marcelo Miguel: The Court upheld his conviction based on his extrajudicial confession, which was found to be voluntary and not vitiated by coercion. His confession was corroborated by the established corpus delicti—the fact that the attack and robbery occurred. He admitted to being a member of the band and participating in the crime. The penalty was modified to an indeterminate sentence of six months of arresto mayor as minimum to four years of prision correccional as maximum, considering the aggravating circumstances of nocturnity and dwelling offset by the mitigating circumstance of lack of instruction.
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