EN BANC
[G.R. No. L-17775. March 1, 1922. ]
THE UNITED STATES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. PEDRO VEGA ET AL., Defendants. SILVESTRE REFRESCA and FERMIN VILLANUEVA, Appellants.
Primitivo L. Gonzalez for appellant Refresca.
Jose Syyap for appellant Villanueva.
Acting Attorney-General Tuason for Appellee.
SYLLABUS
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE; EVIDENCE; CONFESSIONS. — Five men were accused of robbery in armed band; three of them acquitted. The remaining two, the appellants, were convicted. Upon the question of the existence of an armed band the only evidence was the extrajudicial confessions of the two appellants to the effect that the three defendants who were acquitted were the other members of the band and that all of the members were armed. Held: That though the confessions were inadmissible in evidence against the other defendants, who therefore were acquitted, such confessions, nevertheless, constituted sufficient proof, as against the persons who made them, of the existence of an armed band of more than three men.
D E C I S I O N
OSTRAND, J.:
Silvestre Refresca, Fermin Villanueva, Pedro Vega, Jose Villanueva, and Antonio de la Cruz were tried before the Court of First Instance of Batangas for the crime of robo en cuadrilla, the information alleging:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"That the above named accused, Pedro Vega, Silvestre Refresca, Fermin Villanueva, and Antonio de la Cruz, together with Pedro alias Tabong and one named Igme alias Sario who have not yet been found, conspiring together and confederating themselves, on or about the night of the 7th of November, 1919, in the municipality of Tanauan, Province of Batangas, Philippine Islands, being all armed with a revolver and other weapons, with intent of gain, en cuadrilla and by use of force, violence and intimidation, did voluntarily, illegally and criminally, assault the house of Raymundo Marudo, from which they stole and carried away the amount of P20 in paper money, a pair of pearl earrings valued at P2.50 and two khaki pantaloons worth P5, all to the value of P47.50, equivalent to 237 1/2 pesetas. The accused Silvestre Refresca has been already convicted of theft of large cattle in case No. 1790 of the docket of the Court of First Instance of Laguna, and is, therefore, a recidivist."cralaw virtua1aw library
Shortly after their arrest Silvestre Refresca and Fermin Villanueva made confessions in which they implicated the defendants Pedro Vega, Jose Villanueva, and Antonio de la Cruz. On the strength of the confessions the last named defendants were arrested and included in the information, but as at the trial of the case Silvestre Refresca and Fermin Villanueva retracted their confessions, and as there was no other evidence against the other defendants, the latter were acquitted. The court found the defendants Refresca and Fermin Villanueva guilty as charged and sentenced them, respectively, to ten years and seven years, ten months and twenty-one days of presidio mayor, with the accessory penalties prescribed by law, to indemnify jointly and severally Raymundo Marudo in the sum of P52.50, and each to pay one-fifth of the costs. The case is now before this court upon appeal from that sentence.
The evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants are guilty of robo but some doubt has been expressed as to the sufficiency of the proof of the existence of an armed band. Upon this point the only evidence is the confessions of the appellants at the time of their arrest and it is argued that as these confessions were insufficient to convict the other defendants, they must also be regarded as insufficient proof of there being a band of more than three armed persons. In answer to this we may say that as there, aside from the extrajudicial confessions of the accused Silvestre Refresca and Fermin Villanueva, was no proof of conspiracy or combination involving the other the other accused, such confessions were inadmissible in evidence against the latter and could not, of course, be utilized to established their guilt. (Bishop’s New Criminal Procedure, 2d ed., vol. 2, sec. 1248; Greenleaf on Evidence, 16th ed., vol. 1, sec 233.) It was therefore not so much a question of the sufficiency of the evidence as of its admissibility.
But there is no reason whatever why the confessions should not be used against the persons who made them. The defendants Silvestre Refresca and Fermin Villanueva having confessed that there were more than three persons in the band which committed the robbery and that all of them were armed and their respective confessions being competent evidence against each of these defendants, the court may take the confession into consideration and if satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt from such confessions that the robbery was committed by four or more armed men, may so find, irrespective of the fact that the other members of the band have not been brought to justice or have not been convicted. We are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the robbery in the present case was committed by an armed band.
The sentence of the lower court being in accordance with the law and the merits, the same is hereby affirmed with one-half of the costs in this instance against each of the appellants. So ordered.
Araullo, C.J., Johnson, Street, Malcolm, Avancena, Villamor, Johns, and Romualdez, JJ., concur.
"That the above named accused, Pedro Vega, Silvestre Refresca, Fermin Villanueva, and Antonio de la Cruz, together with Pedro alias Tabong and one named Igme alias Sario who have not yet been found, conspiring together and confederating themselves, on or about the night of the 7th of November, 1919, in the municipality of Tanauan, Province of Batangas, Philippine Islands, being all armed with a revolver and other weapons, with intent of gain, en cuadrilla and by use of force, violence and intimidation, did voluntarily, illegally and criminally, assault the house of Raymundo Marudo, from which they stole and carried away the amount of P20 in paper money, a pair of pearl earrings valued at P2.50 and two khaki pantaloons worth P5, all to the value of P47.50, equivalent to 237 1/2 pesetas. The accused Silvestre Refresca has been already convicted of theft of large cattle in case No. 1790 of the docket of the Court of First Instance of Laguna, and is, therefore, a recidivist."cralaw virtua1aw library
Shortly after their arrest Silvestre Refresca and Fermin Villanueva made confessions in which they implicated the defendants Pedro Vega, Jose Villanueva, and Antonio de la Cruz. On the strength of the confessions the last named defendants were arrested and included in the information, but as at the trial of the case Silvestre Refresca and Fermin Villanueva retracted their confessions, and as there was no other evidence against the other defendants, the latter were acquitted. The court found the defendants Refresca and Fermin Villanueva guilty as charged and sentenced them, respectively, to ten years and seven years, ten months and twenty-one days of presidio mayor, with the accessory penalties prescribed by law, to indemnify jointly and severally Raymundo Marudo in the sum of P52.50, and each to pay one-fifth of the costs. The case is now before this court upon appeal from that sentence.
The evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants are guilty of robo but some doubt has been expressed as to the sufficiency of the proof of the existence of an armed band. Upon this point the only evidence is the confessions of the appellants at the time of their arrest and it is argued that as these confessions were insufficient to convict the other defendants, they must also be regarded as insufficient proof of there being a band of more than three armed persons. In answer to this we may say that as there, aside from the extrajudicial confessions of the accused Silvestre Refresca and Fermin Villanueva, was no proof of conspiracy or combination involving the other the other accused, such confessions were inadmissible in evidence against the latter and could not, of course, be utilized to established their guilt. (Bishop’s New Criminal Procedure, 2d ed., vol. 2, sec. 1248; Greenleaf on Evidence, 16th ed., vol. 1, sec 233.) It was therefore not so much a question of the sufficiency of the evidence as of its admissibility.
But there is no reason whatever why the confessions should not be used against the persons who made them. The defendants Silvestre Refresca and Fermin Villanueva having confessed that there were more than three persons in the band which committed the robbery and that all of them were armed and their respective confessions being competent evidence against each of these defendants, the court may take the confession into consideration and if satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt from such confessions that the robbery was committed by four or more armed men, may so find, irrespective of the fact that the other members of the band have not been brought to justice or have not been convicted. We are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the robbery in the present case was committed by an armed band.
The sentence of the lower court being in accordance with the law and the merits, the same is hereby affirmed with one-half of the costs in this instance against each of the appellants. So ordered.
Araullo, C.J., Johnson, Street, Malcolm, Avancena, Villamor, Johns, and Romualdez, JJ., concur.
