G.R. NO. 167084 - MONINA PUCAY, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES.

Ruling

WHEREFORE, this Court finds the accused MONINA PUCAY y PALADIN, GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of estafa through misappropriation as punished under Art. 315 par. 1 (b) of the Revised Penal Code which similarly provides in its first paragraph on penalties, in case the amount involved exceeds P22,000 then the penalty provided shall be imposed in its maximum period, adding one year for each additional P10,000.00 but the total penalty shall not exceed 20 years; hence, since the amount involved is P205,695.00, and there are no mitigating nor aggravating circumstances, she is ordered to suffer the penalty of RECLUSION TEMPORAL IN ITS MAXIMUM PERIOD OF EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS, TWO (2) MONTHS AND TWENTY ONE (21) DAYS TO TWENTY (20) YEARS. As far as the civil aspect is concerned, accused is ordered to pay the private complainant the amount of (a) P205,695.00 as actual damages plus the legal interest computed from the time of the demand made upon her by the complainant, (b) P10,000.00 acceptance fee plus 10% of the total collectible from the accused, as attorney's fees; plus costs of suit. Dissatisfied, Pucay moved for new trial before the Court of Appeals on the ground of newly discovered evidence. She claimed that the alleged evidence is of such weight and materiality that if introduced and admitted, would probably change the judgment. In a Resolution [16] dated 21 January 1997, the appellate court granted a new trial, thereby vacating the Judgment dated 27 March 1995 and directed the court a quo to conduct a trial de novo . The dispositive portion of the Resolution reads: WHEREFORE, the decision of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 104 convicting accused-appellant is hereby set aside. It is ordered to hold a new trial on the newly discovered and such other evidence as it may allow, upon which, together with the evidence on record, the lower court shall then render another decision. Accordingly, a new trial was conducted by the lower court where the newly discovered evidence was introduced and admitted in the proceedings of the case. On 11 June 2001, the trial court rendered a Decision [17] affirming with modification the Judgment dated 27 March 1995, similarly finding the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of estafa but modified the penalty. The dispositive portion of the Decision reads: WHEREFORE, finding accused MONINA PUCAY guilty beyond reasonable doubt as principal of the crime of ESTAFA defined and penalized in Article 315 paragraph 1 (b) of the Revised Penal Code, the Court sentences her to an indeterminate penalty of four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correctional as minimum to twenty years of reclusion temporal as maximum, and orders her to pay the amount of P205,000.00 to the complainant. On appeal, the appellate court, in confirming the presence of all the elements of estafa and finding no reversible error in the factual findings of the trial court, affirmed the latter's decision. The disposit