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PEOPLE v. CEZAR CORTEZ

FACTS:

Accused-appellant Cezar Cortez (Cezar) appealed the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) affirming his conviction for two counts of Homicide and three counts of Murder. The case originated from an Information filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) charging Cezar and Froilan Bagayawa of Robbery with Multiple Homicide. The prosecution alleged that on May 19, 1988, Cezar and Froilan conspired and intended to rob and steal from the house/bake shop of Mario and Minda Punzalan. They forcibly took cash and jewelry from the victims and attacked and killed Mario, Minda, Josielyn Mesina, Baby Mesina, and Efren Villanueva. Eyewitness Janet Quiambao, who was sleeping with her cousins in a room at the back of Minda's Bakery, testified that she saw Cezar hitting Mario on the head and stabbing Minda, while Froilan stabbed Efren. Cezar and Froilan then entered Janet's room and killed Baby and Josielyn. Janet's testimony was corroborated by Richard Punzalan, who hid during the incident, and Leonardo Punzalan, Mario's brother. The case was archived in 1988 due to Cezar's escape but was revived after his arrest in 2010. Cezar invoked denial and alibi as his defense. The RTC found Cezar guilty of two counts of Homicide and three counts of Murder, but not the crime of Robbery. On appeal, the CA affirmed Cezar's conviction with modifications on the penalties and damages awarded. Cezar appealed to the Supreme Court.

ISSUES:

  1. Whether the qualifying circumstances of treachery and/or abuse of superior strength attended the killings

  2. Whether the crime committed should be classified as Murder or Homicide

  3. Whether accused-appellant Cezar Cortez should be held liable for one count of Homicide and four counts of Murder.

  4. Whether the lower court erred in the imposition of penalties for the crimes committed.

  5. Whether the award of damages to the heirs of the victims is proper.

RULING:

  1. Treachery attended the killing of Mario, but not the killings of Efren and Minda, Baby, and Jocelyn. Abuse of superior strength was not proven in the case.

  2. The court modified Cezar's conviction to one count of Homicide for the killing of Efren, and four counts of Murder for the killings of Mario, Minda, Baby, and Jocelyn.

  3. Accused-appellant Cezar Cortez is found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of one count of Homicide for the killing of Efren Villanueva, and four counts of Murder for the killings of Mario Punzalan, Minda Punzalan, Baby Mesina, and Jocelyn Mesina, respectively, defined and penalized under Articles 249 and 248 of the Revised Penal Code.

  4. The penalty for Homicide is the indeterminate period of eight years and one day of prision mayor, as minimum, to fourteen years, eight months, and one day of reclusion temporal, as maximum. The penalty for Murder is reclusion perpetua. Since there are no aggravating circumstances other than the qualifying circumstance of treachery, the lower of the two penalties, which is reclusion perpetua, should be imposed for each count of Murder.

  5. The imposition of P50,000.00 as civil indemnity, P50,000.00 as moral damages, and P50,000.00 as temperate damages for the crime of Homicide is proper. The imposition of P75,000.00 as civil indemnity, P75,000.00 as moral damages, and P75,000.00 as exemplary damages for each count of Murder is also correct, except that the amount of P75,000.00 as temperate damages should be reduced to P50,000.00 in line with prevailing jurisprudence. All damages awarded to the heirs of the victims should earn legal interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum from the date of finality of the decision until full payment.

PRINCIPLES:

  • An appeal in criminal cases opens the entire case for review and the reviewing tribunal has the duty to correct, cite, and appreciate errors in the appealed judgment.

  • To successfully prosecute the crime of Murder, the elements must be established: a person was killed, the accused killed him or her, the killing is not Parricide or Infanticide, and the killing was accompanied by any of the qualifying circumstances mentioned in Article 248 of the RPC.

  • Treachery exists when the means of execution employed give the victim no opportunity to defend or retaliate and the methods of execution were deliberately or consciously adopted.

  • Abuse of superior strength is present when there is a notorious inequality of forces between the victim and the aggressor and the situation of superiority of strength is taken advantage of by the aggressor.

  • Abuse of superior strength requires evidence that the assailants purposely sought the advantage or had the deliberate intent to use this advantage.

  • To appreciate abuse of superior strength means to purposely use excessive force out of proportion to the means of defense available to the person attacked.

  • The crime of Homicide is punishable by reclusion temporal, the range of which is from twelve years and one day to twenty years. (Article 249, Revised Penal Code)

  • The crime of Murder is penalized with reclusion perpetua to death. (Article 248, Revised Penal Code)

  • Indivisible penalties should be imposed in their entirety if there are no modifying circumstances. (People v. Dela Cruz, G.R. No. 211041, November 7, 2016)

  • The lower of two indivisible penalties should be imposed when there are no aggravating circumstances other than the qualifying circumstance. (People v. Catamora, G.R. No. 215381, March 23, 2016)

  • The amounts of civil indemnity, moral damages, and temperate damages may be awarded to the heirs of the victims in murder cases. (People v. Jugueta, G.R. No. 207992, June 27, 2018)