Facts:
On the
evening of November 19, 1999, five men went to the residence of the victim,
Artemio Eba, and demanded food. The latter was willing to comply on the
condition that he would hand the food through an opening in the wall. The group
proceeded to light a torch made up of coconut leaves and started to burn the
house of Artemio but failed at their first attempt as the latter was able to
put out the fire.
The group
then demanded Artemio to open the door but the latter refused and insisted that
he would hand them the food through the opening in the wall. With this, the
group fired at the house, with Gadjali firing the first shot at Artemio.
Jocelyn, daughter of the victim, witnessed the events transpire and proceeded
to her brother Eusebio’s house. She told her brother about what happened to
their father but he did nothing out of fear. Meanwhile, their brother Abelardo
did not try to rescue their father when he saw that his father’s house was
burning upon the request of his wife not to leave.
The
following day, Jocelyn and her siblings found Artemio’s body with stab and
gunshot wounds. She then went to the police station at the Municipality of
Labason and executed an affidavit.
Issue:
Whether the
court a quo failed to prove the guilt of the accused-appellants beyond
reasonable doubt
Ruling:
The appeal
was denied.
The findings of the trial and appellate courts as to the credibility of Jocelyn were final and conclusive. Credible witness and credible testimony are the two essential elements for determining the weight of a particular testimony.
Jocelyn had no motive in naming Sota and Gadjadli as the perpetrators of the crime.
The defences of alibi and denial proffered by Gota and Gadjadli were intrinsically weak. In deciphering a testimony, the technique is not to consider only its isolated parts nor anchor a conclusion on the basis of said part. For the defense of alibi to prosper, the accused must prove that her was so far away that it was not possible for him to have been physicall present at the place of the crime or at its immediate vicinity at the time of its commission. Generally, the motive of the accused in a criminal case is immaterial and does not have to be proven (People v. De Guzman)
The findings of the trial and appellate courts as to the credibility of Jocelyn were final and conclusive. Credible witness and credible testimony are the two essential elements for determining the weight of a particular testimony.
Jocelyn had no motive in naming Sota and Gadjadli as the perpetrators of the crime.
The defences of alibi and denial proffered by Gota and Gadjadli were intrinsically weak. In deciphering a testimony, the technique is not to consider only its isolated parts nor anchor a conclusion on the basis of said part. For the defense of alibi to prosper, the accused must prove that her was so far away that it was not possible for him to have been physicall present at the place of the crime or at its immediate vicinity at the time of its commission. Generally, the motive of the accused in a criminal case is immaterial and does not have to be proven (People v. De Guzman)
