GR L 53; (March, 1946) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-53; March 27, 1946
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MELANIO REYES Y GAYAKAN, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
On July 12, 1945, a sow belonging to Virginia Mendoza disappeared from her yard in Sampaloc, Manila. It reappeared two days later. That same day, her neighbor Marina Lopez saw the accused, Melanio Reyes, leading a pig. Reyes denied taking the pig. Virginia Mendoza reported the matter to the police. Policeman Felix Carlos investigated Reyes, who denied the theft. During the investigation, Reyes commented that the alleged value of the pig (P100) was exorbitant and beyond his means to pay, even if he intended to. The policeman found no hog on Reyes’s premises at that time. Reyes was arrested on July 12 and detained until he posted bail on August 3. He was convicted of theft in the municipal court and, upon appeal, again convicted by the court of first instance, which sentenced him to four months of arresto mayor.
ISSUE
Whether the guilt of the accused for the crime of theft has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction and acquitted the appellant. The Court found the evidence insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The testimony of eyewitness Marina Lopez, who saw Reyes leading a hog, was admitted by Reyes, but he explained it was his own hog, a claim corroborated by his boarder, Domingo Velo. Lopez herself stated she did not know whose hog Reyes was leading. Virginia Mendoza admitted Reyes owned a pig. The hearsay testimony of Mendoza regarding an alleged statement by Reyes’s wife was incompetent and inadmissible. Reyes’s remark to the policeman about the pig’s value being exorbitant did not constitute an admission of guilt and could have been in response to a suggestion to pay for the lost animal. The policeman confirmed Reyes persistently denied the theft. A piece of rope found was not positively identified as the one used to tie Mendoza’s hog. The Court considered it not improbable that the sow had simply broken loose.