Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions > Year 2007 > November 2007 Resolutions > [G.R. No. 175943 : November 11, 2007] PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES V. LARRY DELGADO :

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated 12 November 2007:

G.R. No. 175943 (People of the Philippines v. Larry Delgado)

This is an appeal from the January 31, 2006 Decision^[1] of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA G.R. CR-H.C. No. 00471 entitled People of the Philippines v. Larry Delgado, which affirmed the June 25, 2002 Decision^[2] of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) finding appellant guilty of the crime of murder, frustrated murder, and homicide.

The facts as culled by the CA are as follows:

In the evening of April 13, 1998, Joe Kenneth Quirao arrived at the house of the Lalas family at Paranaque City, where he was renting a room. He saw Norma Lalas washing clothes near the bathroom and talking to their neighbor, appellant Larry, who was carrying a .38 caliber revolver. He had a short talk with appellant and then went to his room to rest.

Thirty minutes later, Norma heard a gunshot from the room of her son, Ernesto, prompting Norma to run towards her son's room. Norma was, however, surprisingly met by a bullet, injuring her on the right side of her forehead. She fainted and fell on the floor but regained consciousness after a few minutes. That was the time that she saw Ernesto bloodied and sprawled on the floor. Norma cried for help. Upon hearing Norma, Kenneth came out of his room and helped rush Ernesto to the hospital. Norma also had her wound treated.

Meanwhile, Eugenia Acuna, Felix Pal, and Vicenta Pal were watching television from the window of Richard Lacson's house when they saw appellant come out of the Lalas residence. Richard was answering nature's call just outside his house. Eugenia and Vicenta saw that appellant approached Richard, who was still urinating. With Richard's back facing appellant, the latter pulled out a small black gun from his waist and shot Richard on the nape. After which, appellant casually walked away. Eugenia shouted for help. Thereafter, Richard was brought to the hospital.

Appellant fled immediately after the incident and was arrested only on January 27, 1999. He interposed denial as his defense.

The trial court found appellant guilty of two counts of murder and frustrated murder. The fallo of the RTC Decision reads:

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, finding Larry Delgado y Medina "Guilty" beyond reasonable doubt [of] the crime of [m]urder (two counts) for killing Richard Lacson and Ernesto Lalas, Jr. as qualified by the aggravating circumstance of treachery under A[rt]. 248 of the Revised Penal Code as amended by RA 7659, he ishereby sentenced to suffer imprisonment of Reclusion Perpetua in the absence of any other aggravating or mitigating circumstance and to suffer the accessory penalties provided by law specifically under Art. 41 of the Revised Penal Code as amended and to indemnify the heirs of Richard Lacson and Ernesto Lalas, Jr. [PhP 50,000] each in line with existing jurisprudence and [PhP 50,000] each for moral damages and to pay the heirs of Richard Lacson, [PhP 111,000] for hospitalization and funeral and burial expenses and the heirs [o]f Ernesto Lalas, Jr. [PhP 36,000] for funeral and other incidental expenses. The [c]ourt also finds him [g]uilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of frustrated murder for wounding Norma Lalas who could have died if not given medical attendance and he is hereby sentenced to an indeterminate prison term of eight (8) years four (4) months and ten (10) days of prision mayor medium as minimum to sixteen (16) years two months and ten (10) days of reclusion temporal medium as maximum and to indemnify Norma Lalas [PhP 55,000] for hospitalization expenses.^[3]

On appeal, the CA held that appellant should not be held guilty of murder for the killing of Ernesto. It held that there was no evidence showing the manner in which the aggression was commenced nor how the act unfolded which resulted in the death of the victim. Absent these particulars, treachery could not be appreciated. Thus, the CA ruled that appellant should only be convicted of simple homicide.

The appellate court also modified the amount of actual damages awarded in favor of the heirs of Richard by reducing the sum to PhP 94,457.90. Moreover, finding that there was no basis for awarding actual damages in favor of Norma and the heirs of Ernesto, the award was deleted.

In its January 31, 2006 Decision, the CA disposed of the case as follows:

WHEREFORE, the Decision of the Regional Trial Court of Para�aque City (Branch 259), dated June 25, 2002, is MODIFIED in that, with respect to the victim Ernesto Lalas, Jr., accused-appellant Larry Delgado y Medina is declared guilty beyond reasonable doubt of homicide and not of murder and is hereby sentenced to a prison term of twelve (12) years of [prision] mayor, as minimum, to seventeen (17) years of reclusion temporal, medium as maximum. Moreover, the award of actual damages in favor of the heirs of Ernesto Lalas, Jr. and in favor of Norma Lalas, respectively, are DELETED for lack of basis. Also, the actual damages awarded to the legal heirs of Richard Lacson is REDUCED to Ninety-Four Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-Seven Pesos and Ninety Centavos ([PhP] 94,457.90). The appealed Decision is AFFIRMED in all other respects. No costs.

SO ORDERED.^[4]

On March 2, 2006, the appellant filed a Notice of Appeal. Thus, the case was forwarded to this Court for final disposition. On February 26, 2007, this Court required the parties to submit supplemental briefs, if they so desired. However, the parties no longer filed any pleading in support of their cause.

The lone issue raised in its appeal is whether the CA and the RTC gravely erred in convicting the accused-appellant of the crime charged despite the failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Considering the allegations, issues and arguments adduced in the appeal, the Court ADOPTS the findings of facts and conclusions of law in the January 31, 2006 Decision of the CA in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 00471 finding appellant Larry Delgado guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder, frustrated murder and homicide.

WHEREFORE, the appeal is DISMISSED for failure to sufficiently show reversible error in the assailed decision to warrant the exercise of this Court's discretionary appellate jurisdiction, and for raising factual issues. The January 31, 2006 Decision in CA-G.R.-H.C. No. 00471 is AFFIRMED IN TOTO.

SO ORDERED.

Endnotes:

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^[1] Penned by Associate Justice Aurora Santiago-Lagman, with Associate Justices Ruben Reyes and Rebecca de Guia-Salvador, concurring.

^[2] Penned by Judge Zosimo Escano of the Para�aque City, Branch 259.

^[3] CA rollo, p. 35.

^[4] Rollo, p.16.