G.R. No. L-163; April 27, 1946
EL PUEBLO DE FILIPINAS, querellante-apelado, vs. MAXIMINO APLEGIDO, RAYMUNDO CARRERA y FELIX PENASO, acusados. RAYMUNDO CARRERA, apelante.

FACTS

On the afternoon of July 30, 1944, Maximino Aplegido, a fruit vendor, had an altercation with Silverio Esgana, who kicked Aplegido’s mango basket. Aplegido stabbed Esgana. Esgana then seized a sickle, wounded Aplegido, and fled. Aplegido pursued and stabbed Esgana in the back. At this point, Canuto Prudente, Esgana’s father-in-law, arrived to help. Felix Penaso, Aplegido’s nephew, struck Prudente on the back of the head with a club (“caborrata”). The appellant, Raymundo Carrera, also a vendor, then entered the fray and wounded Prudente near the right elbow with a fighting cock knife (“navaja de gallo”). Penaso again struck Prudente on the cheek and forehead with the club, causing him to fall. Finally, Aplegido stabbed Prudente in the stomach, causing his death that same afternoon. The district nurse found three contused wounds (inflicted by Penaso) and two incised wounds: one fatal wound below the left nipple (inflicted by Aplegido) and one on the outer right arm near the elbow (inflicted by Carrera). Carrera was convicted by the Court of First Instance of Iloilo as a co-author of homicide. He appealed, while his co-accused did not.

ISSUE

Whether the appellant, Raymundo Carrera, is liable as a co-author (co-principal) or merely as an accomplice in the crime of homicide.

RULING

The Supreme Court modified the judgment. Carrera is not a co-author but an accomplice. The evidence shows the fight occurred unexpectedly, without any prior concert or agreement among the accused to commit homicide. Each aggressor acted independently and instantaneously, without the “team work” denoting a conspiracy or solidary tactic. The mortal wounds were inflicted by Aplegido and Penaso. Jurisprudence requires positive and conclusive proof of a common criminal purpose for co-authorship, which is absent here.
However, Carrera is liable as an accomplice. Under Article 17 of the Revised Penal Code, accomplices are those who cooperate in the execution of the offense by acts prior or simultaneous, provided they are not covered by the definitions of authors. Complicity implies some participation in the criminal intent, which can be inferred from circumstances even without prior agreement. In this case: (1) Carrera, a fellow vendor, was likely drawn by an esprit de corps; (2) He was present from the start, saw his co-accused armed with lethal weapons, and saw Penaso strike Prudente; when he intervened, he knew the fight was deadly and that violent death could result; (3) His wound, while not mortal, could have weakened the victim’s defenses and contributed to the fatal outcome.
Applying Article 52 in relation to Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code and the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the Court sentenced Carrera to an indeterminate penalty of not less than six (6) months and one (1) day of prision correccional nor more than eight (8) years and one (1) day of prision mayor. He was also ordered to indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the sum of P500. The appealed judgment was affirmed in all other respects.