Case Digest: U.S. v. Macalintal, G.R. No. 1331 August 25, 1903

                                 Rule 120: Judgment, Variance Doctrine | Criminal Procedure

Facts:

Isidoro Palad and Melecio Macalintal were charged with the crime of murder for the death of Saturnina Austria.

Isidoro suspected Austria of bewitching his sick mother Maria Estevan.

Isidoro struck his mother several times, demanding to know the identity of the witch. Maria Estevan shouted the name "Saturnina," which prompted Isidoro to search for Saturnina Austria in Sibul, San Miguel.

Upon finding Saturnina, Isidoro forcefully took her from her house and brought her to Batong-Uling. Isidoro and Macalintal cut off Saturnina's ears and threw her into the water. They further augmented her suffering by kicking her on the head, causing her fatal injuries when her head struck a rock. Macalintal aided Isidoro in carrying out these acts.


Issue:

WoN the crime committed by the defendants should be classified as murder or homicide. (YES)

Ruling:

On the testimony of the accused, which in substance corroborates the statements of the eyewitnesses, the guilt of the two accused as coprincipals by direct participation in the homicide in question is fully proved.

In the commission of the crime we must consider the concurrence of the mitigating circumstance No. 7 of article 9, and of the special circumstance established in article 11 of the Penal Code, also in mitigation; also the aggravating circumstance of abuse of superiority. 

The accused, in the belief that their mother’s illness was due to a spell of witchcraft cast upon her by the deceased, in order to compel the latter to remove the spell, inflicted upon her torments which resulted in her death. Held, That the qualifying circumstance of deliberate cruelty (ensañamiento) should not be applied, inasmuch as the ill treatment of the deceased vas not inflicted with the deliberate intent of wantonly augmenting her sufferings, and that the crime should be classified as manslaughter (homicidio).

(Mitigating: Passion and obfuscation

Aggravation: Abuse of superiority)

The facts established show clearly that the accused acted on the impulse of passion and obfuscation, caused by the false belief that the illness of this sick woman was due to the witchcraft and incantations of the deceased Saturnina Austria, because the sick woman, groaning with pain, said that Saturnina was squeezing her throat. 

We must consider that the accused in fact believed in good faith that these ailments were due to witchcraft, in view of their ignorance and the vulgar belief which unfortunately still exists in such matters in many parts of the provinces. 

One of these two mitigating circumstances is, however, offset by the aggravating circumstance of abuse of superiority, of which the accused undoubtedly availed themselves in inflicting the ill treatment upon the victim. Consequently the proper punishment will be the minimum grade of the penalty prescribed by article 404 of the Penal Code.

Although the information charges the accused with the crime of murder, and the court below in its judgment passed sentence upon them for this crime, nevertheless as the crime of homicide is necessarily included in that of murder — as the killing of a human being is defined as homicide or as murder according to whether or not some qualifying circumstance which constitutes the higher crime concurred — the provisions of section 29 of General Orders, No. 58, are applicable, and the judgment of the court below should be reversed and the accused convicted of the crime of homicide, as such action does not affect their rights, but, on the contrary, is favorable to them.

Section 29.

The court may find the defendant guilty of any offence, or of any frustrated or attempted offence, the commission of which is necessarily included in the charge in the complaint or information.

Judgment of the court below is reversed and the defendants Isidoro Palad and Melecio Macalintal are condemned to the penalty of thirteen years each of reclusion temporal, to the accessories of absolute temporal disqualification to the full extent.



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