PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, vs. EUTROPIO TIOZON y ACID.
- G.R. Number: G.R. No. 89823
- Promulgated: 1991-06-19
- Ponente: Davide, Jr., J.
Doctrine
Circumstantial evidence suffices for conviction only when (a) there is more than one circumstance, (b) the facts from which inferences are drawn are proved, and (c) the combination produces conviction beyond reasonable doubt.
Treacherousness cannot be presumed; it must be proved by clear and convincing evidence as conclusively as the killing itself.
An appeal in a criminal case opens the whole case for review; the Supreme Court duty is to correct errors in the appealed judgment even if not raised by assignments of error.
Facts
An information dated 27 February 1989 charged the accused with violating P.D. No. 1866 for possessing a .38 cal. revolver and for shooting and killing Leonardo Bolima on or about 24 February 1989 in Kalookan City.
The trial court convicted the accused of P.D. 1866 and murder qualified by treachery and sentenced him to life imprisonment, civil indemnity, burial expenses and costs.
Accused filed a motion for reconsideration (denied) and timely appealed to the Supreme Court; the case was thus brought for review.
Issues
Whether the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused committed the killing.
Whether the prosecution proved illegal possession of a firearm beyond reasonable doubt.
Whether the killing was attended by qualifying circumstances of treachery and evident premeditation as alleged in the information.
Ruling
The Court found more than one circumstantial evidence pointing beyond reasonable doubt to the accused as the killer, but concluded treachery was not duly established; the proper conviction is for homicide, not murder.
There was no proof the accused had no license; the conviction for illegal possession was erroneous and cannot be sustained.
Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the accused was sentenced to an indeterminate term: minimum eight years and one day of prision mayor, maximum fourteen years, eight months and one day of reclusion temporal; civil indemnity increased to P50,000; credit for preventive imprisonment and costs imposed.
Keywords
G.R. No. 89823, Presidential Decree 1866, violation of Presidential Decree 1866, Murder qualified by treachery, treachery, evident premeditation, life imprisonment, P30,000.00 indemnity, P50,000.00 reimbursement for expenses, death penalty, crime of P.D. 1866 and Murder, accused-appellant, plaintiff-appellee, .38 cal . revolver, marked Squires Bingham with SN 180169, accidental shooting, ballistician, forensic chemist, paraffin test, negative result on the presence of nitrates, self-defense