G.R. No. L-5596
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. SEVERINO BAROT, defendant-appellant.
March 15, 1910

FACTS:
On May 12, 1908, around midnight, two individuals, including the appellant Severino Barot, entered the house of Dorotea de Luna in Tarlac. They discharged a revolver to intimidate the occupants. Barot then maltreated Dorotea de Luna and her daughter Pelagia Soberano with a bolo while his companion took P4 from a tampipi. Barot was positively identified by the victims and later voluntarily confessed his participation to a municipal policeman. The Court of First Instance of Tarlac convicted Barot of robbery, finding the aggravating circumstances of nocturnity and morada (dwelling), and sentenced him to eight years of presidio mayor, indemnity, and costs. The original complaint had charged robo en cuadrilla (robbery by a band).

ISSUE:
Whether the facts proven established the crime of robbery with violence and intimidation of the person and the guilt of the defendant.

RULING:
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The Court ruled that although the crime charged in the complaint, robo en cuadrilla, was not sustained by the proofs (as there were only two individuals, not more than three armed persons), the facts clearly constituted the crime of robbery with violence and intimidation of the person, as defined and punished in subdivision 5 of Article 503 of the Penal Code. The guilt of the defendant, Severino Barot, was unequivocally established by the positive testimony of the victims and his voluntary confession. The penalty imposed by the lower court, considering the aggravating circumstances of nocturnity and morada, was found to be in accordance with the law.