GR 86728; (April, 1990) (Digest)
G.R. No. 86728 ; April 6, 1990
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JESUS VARGAS, JR., defendant-appellant.
FACTS
On the evening of October 29, 1982, Romeo Malones, Sr. and his family were inside their house in Barangay Banugan, Iloilo, when it was subjected to a barrage of gunfire. The attack resulted in the instantaneous death of Romeo Malones, Sr. and fatal injuries to his daughter Rosalie, who later died at the hospital. Other family members, including Maribeth, Sheila, Ronald, and Nona Malones, sustained various gunshot wounds and abrasions. An eyewitness, Romeo Malones, Jr., testified that he saw the appellant, Jesus Vargas, Jr., and his brother Fortunato Vargas firing at their house from a distance of about five meters. He recognized them clearly due to the bright moonlight and because they were relatives. The incident was investigated by the barangay captain, who noted a prior conflict between the families that had been ostensibly settled in 1972.
ISSUE
The primary issue is whether the appellant can be held individually liable for each resultant crime—specifically, two counts of murder and multiple counts of physical injuries—absent a finding of conspiracy and evident premeditation by the trial court.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding the appellant liable for each distinct felony resulting from the shooting. The Court rejected the argument that the absence of a conspiracy finding precludes individual liability for all resultant crimes. The legal logic centers on the nature of the criminal act itself. The appellant, together with his brother, unleashed successive bursts of gunfire into the dwelling. Applying established jurisprudence, the Court ruled that when several persons are killed or injured by successive shots, each shot or burst constitutes a separate criminal act. The Court cited People vs. Mones, where firing a series of shots killing multiple persons resulted in separate convictions for each murder, each qualified by treachery.
The Court analogized the sustained firing to the operation of an automatic weapon, where keeping pressure on the trigger produces continuous fire. The key determinant is not the single intent to attack but the plurality of violent acts and their distinct consequences. Each bullet that found a victim produced a separate felony. Therefore, the appellant was correctly convicted for two murders for the deaths of Romeo Sr. and Rosalie, and for separate physical injuries for the wounded victims, instead of a single complex crime. The testimony of eyewitness Romeo Malones, Jr., found credible and corroborated by physical and medical evidence, sufficiently established the appellant’s identity and participation beyond reasonable doubt.