G.R. No. 224498 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, V. PFC ENRIQUE REYES, ACCUSED-.

Ruling

WHEREFORE, all premises considered, accused Enrique Reyes is hereby found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the offense of Murder and is hereby sentenced to suffer the [sic] imprisonment of reclusion perpetua . Accordingly, the surety bond posted by the accused for his provisional liberty is hereby cancelled and the accused is hereby ordered to be committed at the National Bilibid Prison. He is, further, sentenced to compensate the Heirs of Danny Estrella the following amounts consistent with law and jurisprudence relating to an accused adjudged guilty of a crime covered by Republic Act No. 7659: P75,000.00 as civil indemnity; P75,000.00 as moral damages and P30,000 as exemplary damages. Furnish the Public Prosecutor, the private complainants, the accused, his counsel and the Warden of the Manila City Jail copies of this decision. Given in open court this 25th day of June 2012 in the City of Manila, Philippines. [15] The RTC gave more weight to the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and rejected accused-appellant's claim of self-defense, finding no clear and convincing proof that Danilo had assaulted him or posed an imminent threat to him. The RTC held that the killing was attended by treachery because accused-appellant fired at Danilo suddenly and without giving him the chance to run or defend himself. The trial court likewise appreciated the qualifying circumstance of evident premeditation, holding that accused-appellant had sufficient time to contemplate his actions while sitting in his rocking chair before emerging from his house armed with a rifle, ready to kill. [16] On appeal, the CA sustained the RTC's finding that the killing was not done in self-defense in the absence of unlawful aggression. However, finding no sufficient evidence that would establish the aggravating circumstances of treachery and evident premeditation, the appellate court downgraded accused-appellant's conviction from murder to homicide. The dispositive portion of the CA's June 10, 2015 Decision [17] reads: WHEREFORE , the appeal is PARTIALLY GRANTED . The June 25, 2012 Decision of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 54, Manila in Criminal Case No. 91-97103 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATIONS . As modified, accused-appellant PFC ENRIQUE REYES is found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of HOMICIDE . He is hereby sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of twelve (12) years of prision mayor as minimum to fourteen (14) years and eight (8) months of reclusion temporal minimum as maximum, and to pay civil indemnity and moral damages of P50,000.00 each. The award of exemplary damages is hereby deleted. Further, all the monetary awards for damages are subject to a 6% interest per annum from date of finality of this decision until fully paid. SO ORDERED.