GR L 5220; (August, 1909) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-5220
THE UNITED STATES vs. MIGUEL PINDONG (alias Capitan Pindong) and JUAN CARPO
August 18, 1909
FACTS:
Miguel Pindong and Juan Carpo, along with others, were charged with “robbery in an armed band, with homicide and physical injuries.” On April 12, 1908, at about 8 o’clock at night, in Lawaan, Antique, the accused, forming a band of 12 armed men, attacked the house of Domingo Marcelo. They bound Domingo Marcelo, robbed his house of 10 pesos, clothing, and other effects totaling P111.05. In the course of the attack, they caused the violent death of Eusebio Marcelo with bolo blows, inflicted three gunshot wounds on Mariano Marcelo, and hit Juan Pedro with a stone. The trial court convicted the appellants of “robbery in an armed band, with homicide” and sentenced them to cadena perpetua (life imprisonment). The crime was committed by an armed band and at night, which are aggravating circumstances that, in the absence of extenuating circumstances, would typically necessitate the death penalty.
ISSUE:
Should the aggravating circumstances of an armed band and nighttime be compensated by the extenuating circumstance of “race” as defined in Article 11 of the Penal Code, given the defendants’ low order of intelligence and partially civilized state, thereby maintaining the cadena perpetua sentence?
RULING:
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction for “robbery in an armed band, with homicide” and the sentence of cadena perpetua. The Court held that the appellants were entitled to the benefits of Article 11 of the Penal Code (extenuating circumstance of race). This was because the evidence disclosed that the defendants were “of an extremely low order of intelligence, and only partially civilized,” and the homicide itself was not marked by strikingly aggravating circumstances beyond its commission during the robbery. This extenuating circumstance was deemed sufficient to compensate for the aggravating circumstances of the crime being committed by an armed band and taking advantage of the darkness of the night, thus justifying the imposition of cadena perpetua instead of the death penalty.