Case 4-10 Digest: People v. Antonio Yabut

by Legally Brown
PEOPLE v. ANTONIO YABUT, GR No. 39085, 1933-09-27 (/juris/view/c1e1a?user=geFRubXJjWFI2amllZEc2ekVOR0g0dzNLRW9naGlXZjIwQ2NkTXA4aWZzND0=)
Facts:
That on or about the 1st day of August, 1932, in the City of Manila, Philippine Islands, the accused Antonio Yabut, then a prisoner serving sentence in the Bilibid Prison, in said
city, did then and there, with intent to kill, wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously and... treacherously, assault, beat and use personal violence upon one Sabas Aseo, another prisoner
also serving sentence in Bilibid, by then and there hitting the said Sabas Aseo suddenly and unexpectedly from behind with a wooden club, without any just cause, thereby
fracturing the... skull of said Sabas Aseo and inflicting upon him various other physical injuries on different parts of the body which caused the death of the latter about twenty-
four (24) hours thereafter.
"That at the time of the commission of this offense, the said Antonio Yabut was a recidivist, he having previously been convicted twice of the crime of homicide and once of
serious physical injuries, by virtue of final sentences rendered by competent tribunals
Issues:
On appeal to this court, the appellant advances the following assignments of error:
"1. The lower court erred in applying article 160 of the Revised Penal Code.
"2. The lower court erred in holding that the evidence of the defense are contradictory and not corroborated.
"3. The lower court erred in holding that the crime of murder was established by appreciating the qualifying circumstance of alevosia.
"4. The lower court erred in finding the accused guilty of the crime of murder beyond reasonable doubt."
Ruling:
We reject, as unworthy of belief, the testimony of Yabut that it was Villafuerte, not he, who gave the fatal blow to the deceased Aseo. The testimonies of Santiago Estrada,
resident physician of the Bureau of Prisons and Dr. Pablo Anzures of the Medico Legal Department of the
University of the Philippines, clearly establish that the death of Aseo was caused by subdural and cerebral hemorrhages following the fracture of the skull resulting from the
blow on the head of Aseo. They further confirm the testimony of the four eyewitnesses that the deceased... was struck from behind.
first assignment of error, we quote article 160 of the Revised Penal Code
"Commission of another crime during service of penalty imposed for another previous offense Penalty. Besides the provisions of rule 5 of article 62, any person who shall
commit a felony after having been convicted by final judgment, before beginning to serve... such sentence, or while serving the same, shall be punished by the maximum period
of the penalty prescribed by law for the new felony.
"Any convict of the class referred to in this article, who is not a habitual criminal, shall be pardoned at the age of seventy years if he shall have already served out his original
sentence, or when he shall complete it after reaching said age, unless by reason of his... conduct or other circumstances he shall not be worthy of such clemency."
The appellant places much stress upon the word "another" appearing in the English translation of the headnote of article 160 and would have us accept his deduction from the
headnote that article 160 is applicable only when the new crime which is committed by a person already... serving sentence is different from the crime for which he is serving
sentence.
there is no warrant whatever for such a deduction... from the text itself of article 160. The language is plain and unambiguous.
The remaining assignments of error relate to the evidence. We have come to the conclusion, after a thorough examination of the record, that the findings of the court below are
amply sustained by the evidence, except upon the fact of the existence of treachery
(alevosia).
As some members of the court entertain a reasonable doubt that the existence of treachery (alevosia) was established, it results that the penalty assessed by the court below
must be modified. We find the defendant guilty of homicide and, applying... article 249 of the Revised Penal Code in connection with article 160 of the same, we sentence the
defendant-appellant to the maximum degree of reclusion temporal, that is to say, to twenty years of confinement and to indemnify the heirs of the deceased Sabas Aseo
(alias Sabas Asayo), in the sum of P1,000. Costs de oficio.
Principles:
It is familiar law that when the text itself of a statute or a treaty is clear and unambiguous, there is neither necessity nor propriety in resorting to the preamble or headings or
epigraphs of a section for interpretation of the text, especially where such epigraphs or... headings of sections are mere catchwords or reference aids indicating the general
nature of the text that follows.

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by Legally Brown

PEOPLE v. ANTONIO YABUT, GR No. 39085, 1933-09-27 (/juris/view/c1e1a?user=geFRubXJjWFI2amllZEc2ekVOR0g0dzNLRW9naGlXZjIwQ2NkTXA4aWZzND0=)

(alias Sabas Asayo), in the sum of P1,000. Costs de oficio.

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