G.R. No. 137404 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. JOSE CASITAS JR..

Ruling

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered finding the accused JOSE CASITAS, JR. y CEA alias BOBOY guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of MURDER as defined and penalized under Art. 248 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Rep. Act 7659 with the aggravating circumstance of the commission of the crime in the dwelling of the offended party under par. 3 Art. 14, Revised Penal Code, and hereby sentences him to suffer the supreme penalty of DEATH. Additionally, the accused is hereby ordered to pay the heirs of Haide Marbella the sum of P50,000.00 as civil liability. [2] In an Information dated June 25, 1998 and filed in the RTC on July 3, 1998, [3] appellant was charged in these words: That on or about the 25 th of March 1998 at 8:00 oclock in the morning, more or less, at Karangahan Blvd., Barangay Bombon, Municipality of Tobaco, Province of Albay, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, with intent to kill, while armed with a bladed weapon, with evident premeditation, taking advantage of superior strength, and with cruelty, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously assault, attack and stab HAIDE BOMBALES-MARBELLA, thereby inflicting upon the latter mortal wounds on the different parts of her body which caused her painful death, to the damage and prejudice of her heirs. [4] During his arraignment on July 28, 1998, appellant, with the assistance of his counsel, [5] pleaded not guilty. [6] After pretrial and due trial, the court a quo rendered the assailed Decision. The Facts Version of the Prosecution In its Brief, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) presents the prosecutions version of the facts as follows: At around 7:30 oclock in the morning of March 2 [5] , 1998, at Karangahan, Bombon, Tabaco, Albay, appellant Jose Casitas, Jr., also known as Boboy, was at the store of Romeo Briones. This store is located near the house of Mario Chan, the house where Haide Marbella was working as caretaker. Appellant and Romeo Briones were able to converse for about 20 minutes. During their conversation, appellant showed Romeo the 3 25-centavo coins which he had and said, and lakaw kong ini sapalaran x x x (this venture of mine is being taken on a chance).[] Thereafter, Romeo turned away and lay down on the table. He never noticed when appellant left his store. Nearby, Corazon Goyena passed by the store of Romeo Briones going towards the Jasmin Street for the purpose of dumping the sand piled at the side of the road on the drainage. This pile of sand was on the road beside the house of Mario Chan. While she was proceeding to the pile of sand, Corazon saw Haide standing in the middle of the road near the steel gate of the house of Mario Chan talking with Meriam Manzano. Seeing that Haide wanted to talk with her, Corazon went to the store of Romeo and waited there for Haide. At the store, Haide asked Corazon if the latter was willing to lend her P200.00 to which the latte