Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions > Year 2012 > April 2012 Resolutions > [G.R. No. 188974 : April 18, 2012] PEOPLE OE THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VERSUS LEONILO SANCHEZ Y MARIANO, ACCUSED-APPELLANT. :

Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution dated 18 April 2012 which reads as follows:cralaw

"G.R. No. 188974 - PEOPLE OE THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, versus LEONILO SANCHEZ y MARIANO, accused-appellant.

Before us is an appeal from the February 10, 2009 Decision^[1]  of the Court of Appeals (CA) affirming the Decision^[2] of the Regional Trial Court of Malabon, Metro Manila, Branch 72, convicting appellant Leonilo Sanchez y Mariano alias Boy Sanchez of violating Section 15, Article III of The Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, as amended.

In an Information^[3] dated August 3, 1998, Sanchez was charged as follows: 

That on or about the 31^st day of July, 1998 in Malabon, Metro Manila and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, without authority of law, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously sell and deliver to PO3 ALBERTO COLALER, who posed, as buyer METHAMPHETAMINE HYDROCHLORIDE weighing 230.29 grams, a regulated drug, without the corresponding license or prescription therefor, knowing the same to be such.

When arraigned, Sanchez pleaded not guilty to the charge against him.

After trial on the merits, the RTC rendered a Decision on October 15, 1999 finding Sanchez guilty beyond reasonable doubt of drug pushing and sentenced him to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua. 

Sanchez perfected an appeal before the CA. In a Decision promulgated on February 10, 2009, the appellate court denied the appeal and affirmed the RTC judgment. The CA held: 

WHEREFORE, the instant appeal is DENIED and the questioned Decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Malabon, Branch 72, in Criminal Case Nos. 19719-20-MN, convicting the accused-appellant beyond reasonable doubt of drug pushing punished under Section 15, Article III, RA 6425, as amended by RA 7659, is hereby AFFIRMED. 

SO ORDERED.

Appellant filed a notice of appeal which was given due course by the Court of Appeals. The records were then forwarded to this Court. Subsequently, however, in a letter dated June 17, 2011, Supt. Ramon M. Reyes, Officer-In-Charge of the Assistant Director's Office for Prisons and Security, Bureau of Corrections, informed the Court that Leonilo Sanchez y Mariano alias Boy Sanchez, with Prison No. N99P-3545, had died on June 8, 2011. A copy of his Death Report signed by Ma. Lourdes M. Razon, MD, Medical Specialist I of the New Bilibid Prison Hospital, was attached to the letter. On March 6, 2012, P/Supt. Richard W. Schwarzkopf, Jr., Officer-In-Charge of the New Bilibid Prison, submitted a certified true copy of Sanchez� Death Certificate, issued by the Office of the Civil Registrar of Muntinlupa City.

Given Sanchez' death, we must now determine the fate of his appeal before us.

According to Article 89(1) of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, criminal liability is totally extinguished: 

1. By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability therefor is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment.

Sanchez' death on June 8, 2011, during the pendency of his appeal, extinguished his criminal liability. Hence, whether he was guilty of the crimes charged has become irrelevant since, pursuant to Article 89(1) of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, they were totally extinguished by his death. Thus, the appealed Decision of the CA in CA-GR. CR.-H.C. No. 01757 finding Sanchez guilty of drug pushing, sentencing him to reclusion perpetua, had become ineffectual. cralaw

WHEREFORE, in view of the death of accused-appellant Leonilo Sanchez y Mariano, the Decision dated February 10, 2009 of the Court of Appeals in CA-GR. CR.-H.C. No. 01757 is SET ASIDE and Criminal Case Nos. 19719-20-MN before the Regional Trial Court of Malabon, Branch 72, is DISMISSED.

With costs de oficio. 

The letter dated 02 March 2012 of P/Supt. Richard W. Schwarzkopf, Jr., OIC, New Bilibid Prison submitting the thereto attached certified true copy of the Death Certificate of Leonilo Sanchez in compliance with the Resolution dated 12 December 2011 is  NOTED. 

SO ORDERED." 

Very truly yours,

(Sgd.) EDGAR O. ARICHETA
Division Clerk of Court

�

Endnotes:

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^[1] Rollo, pp. 2-26. Penned by Associate Justice Jose L. Sabio, Jr., with Associate Justices M. De Leon and Ramon R. Garcia concurring. The decision was rendered in CA-G.R. CR.-H.C. No. 01757.

^[2] CA rollo, pp. 23-32. Penned by Judge Benjamin M. Aquino, Jr. in Criminal Case Nos. 39719-20-MN. 

^[3] Id. at 7.