GR L 51797; (May, 1983) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-51797 May 16, 1983
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee vs. JOSE VERDAD alias ALFREDO VERDAD, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
The accused, Jose Verdad, was employed as a houseboy in the Ramos residence in Cabanatuan City. Enjoying the family’s trust, he was allowed to stay alone in the house and was entrusted with keys. On July 6, 1979, the parents left for Manila, leaving their three children, including 14-year-old Rowena, with the accused. In the early hours of July 7, sensing the parents were asleep, Verdad armed himself with a bolo, entered Rowena’s room under a pretext, and attacked her when she resisted, inflicting fatal wounds. He then proceeded to rob the master’s bedroom and Rowena’s room of cash and valuables, including a stereo cassette and jewelry, before fleeing using the family car. Rowena died days later but identified her attacker to her mother. Verdad was apprehended, confessed in an affidavit, and upon arraignment, pleaded guilty to Robbery with Homicide as charged. The trial court, mindful of improvident pleas, conducted a full trial where Verdad maintained his plea. He was convicted and sentenced to death.
ISSUE
Whether the accused was properly convicted of the special complex crime of Robbery with Homicide, notwithstanding his claim that his intent was to commit rape and that he should have been charged with Attempted Rape with Homicide instead.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction for Robbery with Homicide. The legal logic is that the crime is a single, indivisible felony defined by the occurrence of a homicide by reason or on the occasion of a robbery. The accused’s subjective intent to commit rape is immaterial to the characterization of the offense. What is controlling is the objective fact that a robbery and a killing transpired with a direct, intimate connection between them. The evidence clearly established that Verdad killed the victim and immediately thereafter took cash and valuables from the house, which constitutes the robbery. The intimate connection between the acts is proven by their sequential execution in a single criminal episode. The Court cited settled doctrine that whenever such a direct relation exists, the special complex crime is committed. The trial court correctly appreciated the aggravating circumstances of abuse of confidence and abuse of superior strength. However, for lack of necessary votes, the death penalty was commuted to reclusion perpetua. The judgment was affirmed with this modification.