GR L 45354; (July, 1988) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-45354 July 26, 1988
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ALBERT NEWMAN y BECLAR and DIONISIO TOLENTINO y SANTILLAN, defendants-appellants.
FACTS
On March 19, 1975, taxi driver Efren Bantillo, mortally wounded, managed to drive to a store in Bacolod City. He informed the store owner, Rosita Empio, that he had been held-up. He was rushed to the hospital where, before losing consciousness, he gave a statement to Patrolman Eduardo Yanson. He described his assailants as two unknown persons, one short with long hair and the other tall and stout, and stated that sixty pesos was taken from him. Bantillo died the following day from multiple stab wounds. Police investigation led to the arrest of appellants Albert Newman and Dionisio Tolentino. Recovered from Newman was a wristwatch identified as belonging to the victim, and from Tolentino, the victim’s driver’s license. Both appellants executed extrajudicial confessions admitting their participation in the robbery and stabbing of Bantillo.
At trial, appellants recanted their confessions, claiming they were extracted through force and intimidation. They presented an alibi, asserting they were elsewhere at the time of the crime. The prosecution, however, presented the dying declaration of Bantillo and the corroborating physical evidence of the stolen items found in the appellants’ possession. The trial court convicted both appellants of Robbery with Homicide and sentenced them to reclusion perpetua.
ISSUE
The core issue is whether the guilt of appellants Albert Newman and Dionisio Tolentino for the crime of Robbery with Homicide was proven beyond reasonable doubt.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, upholding the trial court’s findings. The Court ruled that the extrajudicial confessions were admissible, having been executed voluntarily with the assistance of counsel. The appellants’ bare allegations of coercion, unsupported by evidence, could not prevail over the presumption of regularity in the performance of official duty by the police officers. Furthermore, the confessions were corroborated by other evidence of corpus delicti, namely the dying declaration of the victim and the stolen properties recovered from the appellants.
The Court found conspiracy to be sufficiently established. The concerted actions of the appellants—the manner of the attack, which involved one likely holding the victim while the other stabbed, and the subsequent division of the loot between them—demonstrated a community of criminal design. Conspiracy having been proven, each conspirator is liable for the acts of the other, making it immaterial who delivered the fatal blow. The Court modified the civil liability, increasing the indemnity to the heirs of the victim to P30,000.00. The decision of the trial court was affirmed with this modification.