GR 532; (August, 1902) (Digest)
G.R. No. 532 : August 21, 1902
THE UNITED STATES, complainant-appellee, vs. MAURICIO RUBETA, defendant-appellant.
FACTS:
Between 1 and 2 o’clock in the afternoon on April 29, 1900, Mauricio Rubeta went to the house of Jose Marcos in the colony of San Antonio. Upon entering, he was told by a 10-year-old girl, Salome Valderas, that Marcos was sleeping in his bedroom. Rubeta proceeded to the bedroom and, approaching the sleeping Marcos, inflicted two mortal wounds in his breast with a sharp instrument, from which Marcos died moments later. The girl witnessed the attack and immediately reported it to neighbors, who found Marcos’s body near the stairway. The witness suggested the motive for the aggression was that Marcos had objected to one of his servants marrying a son of the accused.
ISSUE:
Whether the accused, Mauricio Rubeta, is guilty of the crime of murder, qualified by the circumstance of alevosia (treachery).
RULING:
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of First Instance convicting Mauricio Rubeta of murder. The facts constitute the crime of murder under Article 403 of the Penal Code, qualified by alevosia. The accused employed means that directly and specially ensured the consummation of the crime without risk to himself, as he attacked the victim while the latter was asleep and defenseless. The defense of alleged prior aggression by the deceased was unsupported by evidence and contradicted by the prosecution witness. The Court found the testimony of the eyewitness, Salome Valderas, credible and corroborated by physical evidence.
The qualifying circumstance of alevosia was present. The Court also noted the concurrence of the aggravating circumstance of dwelling (the victim was attacked in his own house without provocation), but this was compensated by the mitigating circumstance under Article 11 of the Penal Code, considering the personal conditions of the defendant and the nature of the crime. Applying the medium grade of the penalty, the Court sentenced Rubeta to cadena perpetua (life imprisonment), the corresponding accessories, an indemnity of 1,000 Mexican pesos to the heirs of the deceased, and payment of costs.