Accused-appellant Roderick Ramelo was charged for the crime of murder for the death of Nelson Peña. The former assaulted and attacked the latter by means of treachery and evident premeditation by stabbing the victim using a kitchen knife cleverly hidden in his right shoe. The prosecution averred that the accused suddenly appeared and stabbed the victim outside a disco event in their barangay. Meanwhile, the defense countered that prior to the stabbing incident, accused-appellant was suddenly slapped by one of the victim’s drinking companions without any provocation from his part. A physical altercation followed which ultimately led to the stabbing by Ramelo of the victim. The victim was sent to the hospital but ultimately transpired as a result of massive blood loss due to the stab wound.
Issue:
Whether or not the trial and appellate courts erred when they failed t appreciate the justifying circumstance of self-defense in favor of Ramelo
Ruling:
The petition was denied. Self-defense on the part of the accused-appellant was not properly established.
It is well-settled that when the accused pleads self-defense and effectively admits that he killed the victim, the burden of evidence shifts to him. Hence, he must rely on the strength of his own evidence and not on the weakness of that of the prosecution.
To successfully claim self-defense, the accused must satisfactorily prove that: (1) the victim mounted an unlawful aggression against the accused; (2) that the means employed by the accused to repel or prevent the aggression were reasonable and necessary; and (3) the accused did not offer any sufficient provocation.
Treachery, on the other hand, occurs when the offender commits any of the crimes against persons, employing means, methods, or forms in their execution, and tending directly and specially to insure their execution without risk to himself arising from any defense which the offended party might make. The essence of treachery is the sudden and unexpected attack by the aggressor on the suspecting victim. For treachery to be properly appreciated, two concurring conditions must be established: (1) the employment of means of execution that gives the person attacked no opportunity to defend himself or to retaliate; and (2) the means of execution was deliberately or consciously adopted.
When he meeting between the accused and the victim was casual and the attack was done impulsively, treachery could not be appreciated even if the attack was sudden and unexpected.
Mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender was properly appreciated. For voluntary surrender to mitigate the penal liability of the accused, the following requisites must be established: (1) accused has not been actually arrested; (2) accused surrenders himself to a person in authority or to the latter’s agent; (3) the surrender is voluntary. These requisites were sufficiently proven by Ramelo after voluntarily surrendering himself to the police authorities approximately nine (9) hours after the stabbing incident. This was evidenced by the Certificate of Voluntary Surrender issued by PNP-Baybay.
