452 Phil. 153
CARPIO MORALES, J.:
"That on or about the 8th day of July, 1992, in the Municipality of Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, while armed with .45 caliber pistol, conspiring and confederating with a companion whose true identity and present whereabouts is still unknown and both of them mutually helping and aiding with one another, with intent to kill and with treachery and evident premeditation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and shoot one BEETHOVEN GRAN y TAMPARONG on the different parts of his body, thereby inflicting upon him serious and mortal wounds, which directly caused his death.In Criminal Case No. 92-4652, the Information[3] charges appellant with homicide defined and penalized under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code allegedly committed as follows:
CONTRARY TO LAW."
"That on or about the 8th of July, 1992, in the Municipality of Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, while armed with a .45 calibert (sic) pistol, conspiring and confederating with a companion whose true identity and present whereabouts is still unknown and both of them mutually helping and aiding with one another, with intent to kill, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and shoot one MARY GRACE MANLANGIT y CINCO on the left ear (head) thereby inflicting upon the latter gunshot wounds which directly caused her death.When arraigned, the accused, with the assistance of counsel, entered a plea of not guilty to both charges. The two cases were tried jointly.
CONTRARY TO LAW."
"x x x Accused Dante Narra testified that the deceased, Beethoven Gran, was a close friend of his `buddy' for several years while in the service of the Philippine Constabulary; that during his lifetime, Beethoven confided to him his problems — like the threats to his (Beethoven) life by unidentified callers as he was a member of the RAM, the killing of a muslim by the name of Edwin Kahal for which the latter's family threatened him (Beethoven), and the most serious threat came from a gunrunning syndicate, of which a certain `Dok' was a member; that on the early morning of July 8, 1992, he left his residence at Murphy, Quezon City, and went to the house of Beethoven Gran on board his owner type jeep to get a spare tire; that in the house of Beethoven, he met Beethoven's wife and he introduced himself; that when he was told that Beethoven was not around, he left at 8:30 that morning and went home to Murphy, Quezon City, arriving thereat at 9:00 o'clock in the morning; that he went to a repair shop to have the electric fan of his jeep repaired; and that he left his jeep and returned in the afternoon and met some friends. (TSN, pp. 22-23, March 4, 1994)Finding for the prosecution, the trial court convicted appellant by Decision of August 29, 1996, the dispositive portion of which reads:
Accused also declared that he came to know of the death of Beethoven Gran only on the afternoon of July 9, 1992 through a newspaper and that he did not go to the wake of Beethoven Gran because he was forewarned of the threats to his life. He also claimed that from July 8 to the time he was detained at the Makati Municipal Jail on July 18, 1992, he was reporting for duty (TSN, pp. 15-20, May 13, 1994); that on July 18, 1992, he was ordered by his Officer to report to the Makati Police Station; that he was made to participate in a line up where the witnesses to the killing of Beethoven Gran were to identify the gunman; that in said line up, the witnesses failed to identify the gunman; that Sgt. Baldado told the witnesses to point to a person and a second line up was formed; and that in the second line up, he was pointed to as the gunman. He alleged that after he was pointed to as the gunman, he was told to remove his uniform and he was locked up in jail. x x x"
"WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, judgment is hereby rendered as follows:Hence, the present appeal anchored on the following assignment of errors:
In Criminal Case No. 92-4651, this Court finds accused DANTE NARRA guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder and he is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of RECLUSION PERPETUA; he is also ordered to pay the heirs of Beethoven Gran the sum of P100,000.00 as moral damages, without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and the amount of P59,772.70, as actual damages, without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and to pay the costs.
In Criminal Case No. 92-4652, this Court finds accused Dante Narra guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Homicide and he is hereby sentenced to an indeterminate sentence of SIX (6) years and ONE (1) day, of Prision Mayor, as the minimum penalty to TWELVE (12) years and ONE (1) day of Reclusion Temporal, as the maximum penalty; the accused is ordered to pay the heirs of Mary Grace Manlangit the sum of P100,000.00 as moral damages, without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, the amount of P49,355.00 as actual damages, without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and to pay the costs.
SO ORDERED."[20]
As in most criminal cases, the issue is one of credibility.I
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GIVING DUE WEIGHT AND CREDENCE TO THE INCONSISTENT, CONTRADICTORY, IMPOSABLE (sic) AND DOUBTFUL TESTIMONIES OF THE FIVE (5) PRINCIPAL PROSECUTION WITNESSES TO THE SERIOUS PREJUDICE OF THE ACCUSED-APPELLANT'S SUBSTANTIAL RIGHTS.II
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REJECTING THE DEFENSE OF ALIBI INTERPOSED BY ACCUSED-APPELLANT INSPITE OF THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NO SUFFICIENT PROOF THAT HE WAS POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED BY ANY OF THE PROSECUTION WITNESSES.III
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT ACQUITTING THE ACCUSED-APPELLANT ON THE GROUND THAT HIS GUILT WAS NOT PROVEN BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT.
With respect to Amangca's questioned testimony on when appellant alighted from the motorcycle and his recollection of appellant's footwear and length of his pants, any variation thereon is too insignificant to erode his credibility. It bears noting that right after the incident, Amangca picked up the empty bullet shells from the scene of the crime which he handed to the police, a reflection of his presence of mind and keen attention both of which enhance his capacity for correct observation. And he, also after the incident, gave a vivid, credible account of what transpired. What is important is that he positively identified appellant as the gunman soon after he was arrested.
"FISCAL LALIN: Q [to Isidro Amangca]: When [appellant] alighted from the motorcycle, where did the accused go? [Defense counsel] ATTY. VILLENA: Your Honor, the witness has been answering, on the previous questions that right after the incident he boarded the motorcycle... COURT: That was after he fired all these shots that's why he sped away ..."[28] (Emphasis supplied).
"xx xx xxThe guilt beyond reasonable doubt of appellant notwithstanding, this Court finds that the killing of Gran was neither treacherous nor premeditated to qualify it to murder. The circumstances which attended the killing rule out the presence of treachery and even evident premeditation.
In the cases at bar, the accused did not adduce evidence to prove that it was impossible for him to be present at the scene of the crime at the time of its commission. The distance between the repair shop in Murphy, Quezon City, where accused claims he was at the time of the commission of the crime, and the scene of the crime at the `Talipapa' at East Rembo, Fort Bonifacio, Makati, can be negotiated in less than one hour by motorcycle. The accused, himself, declared that on July 8, 1992, he returned to his residence at 9:00 o'clock. Thereafter, he left and went to the repair shop to have the electric fan of his jeep repaired. He left his jeep at the shop and returned in the afternoon (TSN, pp. 22-23, March 4, 1994). Thus, it is very possible that after leaving his jeep at the repair shop, the accused boarded a motorcycle and went to the `Talipapa' at East Rembo, Fort Bonifacio, Makati, and upon seeing Beethoven Gran, shot and killed him, in the manner as described by the prosecution witnesses. Thereafter, he left the scene of the crime and probably returned to the shop as the accused alleged. xx xx
"The accused and his wife claimed that he reported for duty in the afternoon of July 8, 1992. However, the official records of the unit to which the accused was assigned show that the accused had not reported for duty from July 5, 1992 up to July 17, 1992 (Exh. "Z"). The evidence adduced to show that the accused did not report for duty to his Battalion on the above-mentioned dates was at all controverted. xx xx" (Underscoring supplied)
"The essence of treachery is that the attack comes without a warning and in a swift, deliberate and unexpected manner, affording the hapless, unarmed and unsuspecting victim no change to resist or escape. xx xx The victim was undoubtedly caught unaware and had no chance of putting up any defense. xx xx"[31] (Emphasis in the original).That Gran was able to elude the first and the second shots and was able to scamper for safety as he headed towards the nearby store of Manlangit negates the notion that he was caught unaware and totally defenseless.
1. In Criminal Case No. 92-4651, appellant DANTE NARRA y ARIOLA is hereby found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of Homicide and he is hereby sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty of Six (6) Years and One (1) Day of prision mayor as minimum, to Seventeen (17) Years and Four (4) Months of reclusion temporal as maximum. He is ORDERED to pay the heirs of Beethoven Gran y Tamparong the amount of P15,707.75 as actual damages, P50,000.00 as moral damages, and P50,000.00 as death indemnity.
2. In Criminal Case No. 92-4652, appellant DANTE NARRA y ARIOLA is found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of Homicide and he is hereby sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty of Six (6) Years and One (1) Day of prision mayor as minimum, to Fourteen (14) Years Eight (8) Months and One (1) Day of reclusion temporal as maximum. He is ORDERED to pay the heirs of Mary Grace Manlangit the amount of P26,850.00 as actual damages, P50,000.00 as moral damages and P50,000.00 as death indemnity.