G.R. No. 144052 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. CONRADO DE LEON, ANDRING DE LEON, JOHN DOE (AT LARGE), ACCUSED. CONRADO DE LEON.DECISION - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Court finds accused CONRADO DE LEON guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of MURDER qualified by treachery and hereby imposes upon him the penalty of reclusion perpetua . Likewise, accused is hereby ordered to indemnify heirs of Crispin dela Peña in the amount of P50,000.00 by way of civil indemnity for the death of said victim, P30,000.00 by way of moral damages, P30,000.00 by way of exemplary damages and cost of the suit. In the meantime, send the record of this case to the archives until and after the arrest of the other two (2) accused. [2] The Information [3] dated October 19, 1995, charged appellant and his co-accused Andring de Leon and one John Doe, as follows: That on or about the 23 rd day of June 1995, in Navotas, Metro Manila, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, armed with a bladed weapon, conspiring [and] confederating [with] and mutually helping x x x one another, with intent to kill, treachery and evident premeditation, did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and stab with the said weapon one CRISPIN DELA PEÑA y AGUILAR, hitting the victim on the different parts of his body, thereby inflicting upon the victim stab wounds, which caused his immediate death. [4] On October 30, 1995, the trial court issued a warrant of arrest [5] against the accused. Appellant was arrested on April 21, 1997 [6] but his co-accused, Andring de Leon and one John Doe, remained at large. When arraigned on July 3, 1997, appellant pleaded [7] not guilty after the Information had been read and interpreted to him in a language that he fully understood. [8] After pretrial, trial on the merits ensued against him alone. Thereafter, the lower court promulgated its assailed Decision. The Public Attorneys Office, counsel for appellant, filed directly with this Court, the Notice of Appeal dated July 7, 2000. [9] The Facts Version of the Prosecution In its Brief, [10] the Office of the Solicitor General adopts the version of the facts synthesized by the trial court, as follows: Simeona de la Peña narrated that around 3:00 oclock in the early morning of June 23, 1995, the bloodied body of her son, Crispin de la Peña was brought to their house at Emergency Relocation Center in Tangos, Navotas, Metro Manila. She immediately embarked Crispin on a tricycle before transferring him into a jeepney to bring him to the nearest hospital. Passing along Bacog Street, Crispin related to her that he was ganged up and stabbed by three persons at the corner of M. Naval Street, Tangos near a videoke joint. He was at that time urinating and in fact his zipper was still open when apparently somebody tapped his shoulder. It turned out, however, that it was a stab thrust. When Crispin backslided, he was again stabbed on the stomach while his hands were being held as the battering continued. Crispin identified accused Conrado de Leon, along with the other accused, as a