516 Phil. 789
CORONA, J.:
The requirement that the Supreme Court pass upon a case in which capital punishment has been imposed by the sentence of the trial court is one having for its object simply and solely the protection of the accused. Having received the highest penalty which the law imposes, he is entitled under that law to have the sentence and all the facts and circumstances upon which it is founded placed before the highest tribunal of the land to the end that its justice and legality may be clearly and conclusively determined. Such procedure is merciful. It gives a second chance for life. Neither the courts nor the accused can waive it. It is a positive provision of the law that brooks no interference and tolerates no evasions. (emphasis supplied)In recognition of the value of human life and as a way of ensuring utmost circumspection before imposing death or life imprisonment, the Court provided an intermediate appeal or review in favor of the accused. Thus, the Court pronounced in People v. Mateo: [7]
While the Fundamental Law requires a mandatory review by the Supreme Court of cases where the penalty imposed is reclusion perpetua, life imprisonment, or death, nowhere, however, has it proscribed an intermediate review. If only to ensure utmost circumspection before the penalty of death, reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment is imposed, the Court now deems it wise and compelling to provide in these cases a review by the Court of Appeals before the case is elevated to the Supreme Court. Where life and liberty are at stake, all possible avenues to determine his guilt or innocence must be accorded an accused, and no care in the evaluation of the facts can ever be overdone. A prior determination by the Court of Appeals on, particularly, the factual issues, would minimize the possibility of an error of judgment. If the Court of Appeals should affirm the penalty of death, reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, it could then render judgment imposing the corresponding penalty as the circumstances so warrant, refrain from entering judgment and elevate the entire records of the case to the Supreme Court for its final disposition.Review by the Court of Appeals of the trial court's judgment imposing the death penalty is now automatic and mandatory. Rule 122, Sections 3(d) and 10 of the Rules of Court, as amended by A.M. No. 00-5-03-SC, expressly provides:
Sec. 3. How appeal taken. – xxx xxx xxxThe power to automatically review a decision imposing the death penalty cannot be waived either by the accused or by the courts. [8] The fundamental law makes the review of all death penalty cases mandatory regardless of the wish of the accused or the will of the court. [9] Neither can it be repudiated by the accused nor evaded by the court. As this Court held in People v. Esparas: [10]
(d) No notice of appeal is necessary in cases where the Regional Trial Court imposed the death penalty. The Court of Appeals shall automatically review the judgment as provided in Section 10 of this Rule.
xxx xxx xxx
Sec. 10. Transmission of records in case of death penalty. – In all cases where the death penalty is imposed by the trial court, the records shall be forwarded to the Court of Appeals for automatic review and judgment within twenty days but not earlier than fifteen days from the promulgation of the judgment or notice of denial of a motion for new trial or reconsideration. The transcript shall also be forwarded within ten days after the filing thereof by the stenographic reporter. (emphasis supplied)
[In death penalty cases,] [n]othing less than life is at stake and any court decision authorizing the State to take life must be as error-free as possible. [Courts] must strive to realize this objective, however elusive it may be, and [their] efforts must not depend on whether appellant has withdrawn his appeal or has escaped. Indeed, an appellant may withdraw his appeal not because he is guilty but because of his wrong perception of the law. Or because he may want to avail of the more speedy remedy of pardon. Or because of his frustration and misapprehension that he will not get justice from the authorities. Nor should the [courts] be influenced by the seeming repudiation of [their] jurisdiction when a convict escapes. [The reviewing court] not only [has] the power but [also] the duty to review all death penalty cases. No litigant can repudiate this power which is bestowed by the Constitution. The power is more of a sacred duty which we have to discharge to assure the People that the innocence of a citizen is [the court's] concern not only in crimes that slight but even more, in crimes that shock the conscience. This concern cannot be diluted.It was thus completely erroneous for the Court of Appeals to consider the accused's appeal as abandoned for his failure to file his appellant's brief, more so to dismiss it on that ground.