GR L 3964; (November, 1907) (Digest)
G.R. No. L‑3964
November 26, 1907
FACTS
– On 8 Nov 1906, prisoner Esteban Malabanan seized a bread tin in Bilibid Prison, was rebuked and struck with a cane by assistant jailer Felino Malaran.
– Malabanan retaliated, attacking Malaran with a small knife, wounding him in the chest, arm and back.
– Assistant jailer Raymundo Enriquez attempted to separate them and was stabbed in the right abdomen; he later died of peritonitis and splenic hemorrhage eleven days after being hospitalized.
– Two other jailers, Quintin de Lemos and Paulino Canlas, were also injured while intervening.
– The knife was found among bamboo in the cell and identified by Malabanan.
– The foreman filed an information for homicide (Art. 404, Revised Penal Code) based on Enriquez’s death.
– The trial court sentenced Malabanan to 12 years + 1 day reclusion temporal. He appealed, denying ownership of the knife and alleging provocation.
ISSUE
1. Whether Malabanan is criminally liable for the death of Raymundo Enriquez and thus guilty of homicide.
2. Whether any mitigating or aggravating circumstances should affect the penalty, and what the proper sentence is.
RULING
– The Court held that the factual findings of the trialeyewitness testimony, the surgeon’s declaration, and the identification of the weaponestablished that Malabanan deliberately stabbed Enriquez while the latter was only trying to pacify the assault on Malaran. Consequently, Malabanan is the author of the lethal wound and liable for homicide.
– No qualifying circumstance, nor any mitigating or aggravating factor, was present. The alleged prior provocation of Malabanan is cognizable only in the separate trial for lesiones graves and is immaterial to the homicide case.
– The Court affirmed the conviction but increased the penalty to fourteen (14) years, eight (8) months and one (1) day of reclusion temporal, with the accessory penalties under Art. 59 of the Penal Code, an indemnity to the heirs of the deceased of ₱1,000, and liability for the costs of the proceedings.
Thus, the judgment of the lower court is upheld, with the revised sentence as above.