Article 13 Mitigating Circumstance.docx

7/24/2019 Article 13 Mitigating Circumstance.docx

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Article 13 Mitigating Circumstance: Passion and obfuscation

People vs fontalva

Facts:

while Diosdado Tormon was inside a vehicle, at the front seat of a publicvehicle, the appellant, who was then carrying weaving materials of a lady

passenger, threw them on the ground, approached the deceased, and

stabbed him in the stomach with a butcher's knife.

The victim uttered a cry of pain, "Araguy." Appellant ran away, leaving the

butcher's knife stuck into the stomach of the deceased.

The driver shouted to a policeman directing trac nearby that somebody was

stabbed. The policeman, who turned out to be !at. ance of the #aasin

!olice $orce, responded upon hearing the shout.

%e intercepted the &eeing accused, held him tight as he was struggling to get

away, took from him the scabbard of the butcher's knife, brought theaccused, who had already ceased struggling, to the municipal building, and

turned him over to the hief of !olice.

The deceased was taken to the (loilo #ission %ospital. The butcher's knife was

still stuck in his stomach, so Dr. )alvador *. Aguirre, who attended to him,

pulled it out, and saw that seven and three+fourths -+/ inches of its blade

had penetrated into the body of the deceased.

%e died the ne0t morning in the said hospital. Dr. Aguirre issued a medical

certi1cate on his 1nding, vi2.3 "(loilo #edical enter, (nc., !almares 4ldg.,

4onifacio Drive, (loilo ity, Dec. -, 5678

because of a stab wound in the abdomen. 90ploratory laparotomy was done.

%e e0pired on December :, 5678. $indings on 90ploration3 5. The abdomen is 1lled with about ;+: liters of

blood.

;. Thru and thru perforation in the


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The deceased went home but the accused stayed awhile. Bpon leaving the

place, he was heard to remark that for what was done to him, he would not

let a month to pass before he would retaliate. )o it did come to pass.

Issue:

w/n the mitigating circumstance of passion and obfuscation

should be appreciated

!eld:

Chat was done to him on that fateful day of ?ovember 57, 5678 when he

was sub


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sentencing appellant Aurelio #o


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w/n the trial court erred in not considering the aggravating

circumsrtances present in the case

%eld3

The lower court, however, erred in not considering the age of the deceased

as an aggravating circumstance.+a" ,ee Parnala was barel" si% "ears

old when ruthlessl" stabbed fourteen times before his bod" was

submerged in the pail

Iikewise$ the trial court erred in disregarding morada which

aggravated the o-ense inasmuch as the crime too. place and was

committed b" the accused#appellant in the house of the victims The

accused+appellant showed greater perversity in his deliberate invasion of the

tranJuility and privacy of the !arnala's domicile.

C%99$>9, the D($(9D, 1nding the

accused+appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of %omicideas de1ned and penali2ed under Article ;=6 of the evised !enal ode, and

considering the presence of two aggravating circumstances$ morada

and disregard of age$the accused+appellant is hereby sentenced to suer

an indeterminate penalty of Twelve 5;/ ears of !rision #ayor to Twenty ;E/

ears of eclusion Temporal for the death of @ay Gee !arnala and another

indeterminate penalty of Twelve 5;/ ears of !rision #ayor to Twenty ;E/

ears of eclusion Temporal for the death of Teresita osalinas and to

indemnify the heirs of deceased @ay Gee !arnala and Teresita osalinas in the

amount of !E,EEE.EE each in line with recent


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her by his left hand strangled her by the neck and pushed her violently to the

ground face downwardK

that he 1rmly held her left arm and neckK rode on her back and pinned her

down with his knees and then continuously lifting her head and smashed her

face against the mudK that he choked and buried her face in the mud for

about an hour until she died. And that when she was already dead, he lifted her from the mud and laid her

&at on her back, and then he held her by the feet, dragged her to a place

from where he killed her, at a distance of thirty bra2asK

that he covered the body with nipa leaves to keep her from the sunlightK that

the deceased was carrying a knife for cutting the banana leaves, and she was

a niece of the accused from a second degree cousinK

that he sliced and took the &esh from the thighs, legs and shoulder by the

use of the knife of *loria 4ulasa because his bolo was dull, after which he

threw the knife awayK

that he cut away also the feetK that he intended to slice all the &esh of the

cadaver but he was caught by the darkness of the nightK

that he put the sliced &esh with a piece of rattan, tied it and brought it to his

farmK that upon reaching his farm, he started to build a 1re and barbecued

the sliced pieces of human &esh roasted it/ and he ate the barbecued pieces

of human &esh and used it as a viand for the roasted banana fruitsK

that the taste of the human &esh was bitter and poignant like a gall bladderK

that he killed *loria 4ulasa 1rst to taste the human &esh if its goodK that after

doing all those atrocious acts, he went home at about -3EE o'clock in that

evening.

The ourt of $irst (nstance of Ieyte found the defendant Diego 4alondo guilty

of the crime of murder and sentenced him to suer the e0treme penalty ofdeath.

Issue:

w/n 0he trial court erred in declaring that other aggravating

circumstance are present namel"$ that means emplo"ed or

circumstance brought about which add ignomin" to the natural

e-ects of the act$ and that the victim was the niece of the

accused

!eld:

2nder Article 1 of the evised Penal Code$ the alternative

circumstance of relationship shall be ta.en into consideration

onl" when the o-ended part" is the spouse$ ascendant$

descendant$ legitimate$ natural or adopted brother or sister$ or

relative b" a&nit" in the same degree of the o-endedB.). vs.

(nsierto, 5 !hil, :8/.


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4ne mitigating circumstancecan be considered in favor of the

defendant, namely, the circumstance of his having made a voluntar"

plea of guiltin court before the presentation of evidence by the

prosecution.

5e$ therefore$ 6nd that the defendant had committed the crime

of murder$ with two aggravating circumstances that should becounted against him$ and one mitigating circumstance in his

favor. %owever, for lack of the reJuired number of votes by the members

of the ourt, for the imposition of the ma0imum penalty of death, the

ourt has resolved to modify that portion of the

Documents

Article 13 Mitigating Circumstance.docx