G.R. No. 129723 May 19, 1999 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appll, !". #$NILO MOR$#$ y T%MLO#, a&&'"(-appllant. MEN#O)$, *.+ F$TS+ Danilo Morada was charged, tried and convicted of the crime of murder for the killing of one Jonalyn Navidad in the Municipality of Imus, Cavite. The victim, Jonalyn Navidad, !, was found, with several hack wounds on the head, near a creek. "he was taken to the hospital, #ut she died shortly after.
$ne "%$& 'ome( )mem#er of %N% Imus* was the first to arrive at the crime scene after receiving the report of the incident. +e together with rgy captain of the place searched the surrounding area and there they found a pair of slippers with a thum#tacks em#edded in the insteps where one of the #ystanders recogni(ed said pair of slippers as those of Morada. "%$& 'ome( and the rgy captain therefore proceeded towards the house of appellant Morada and found a stained T-shirt hanging from a tree more or less a meter away from appellants house. +e accordingly took said T-shirt as he suspected the red stain on it to #e human #lood. /lso a meter away from the side of the house, he recovered a #olo with a stain on it. The police asked Morada whether he knew anything a#out the crime, #ut the latter did not answer and 0ust kept 1uiet. +e then 2invited2 Morada to the police station for 1uestioning and during oral interrogation, accused admitted that he had hacked Jonalyn Navidad. +owever, this alleged confession was not taken down into writing allegedly #ecause there was no availa#le lawyer to assist accused-appellant at that time Moradas defense, he testified that he had no knowledge of the crime and interposed a ali#i. +e also assails the admissi#ility admissi#ility of the polices statement statement as to his 3confession4 3confession4 #y saying that he was #eaten up to make him admit to the killing of Jonalyn Navidad. /ppellant /ppellant has also repeatedly repeatedly wrote the court and the police while in custody 1uestioning the validity of his arrest and the sei(ure of his #elongings #ut these were not heeded 5ltimately, the trial court rendered its decision finding accused-appellant guilty of the murder of Jonalyn Navidad and imposed on him the penalty of death 6 hence, this automatic appeal where the following issue has #een raised7
ISS%E+ 8$N the trial court erred in finding him guilty #eyond reasona#le dou#t of the crime of murder #ased purely on circumstantial evidence9
HEL#+ :;". The decision of the Imus
5ITT;D on the ground of reasona#le dou#t. R$TIO+ The prosecution, in this case, has presented a num#er of circumstantial evidence which, taken together, purportedly points to a reasona#le moral certainty that the appellant is guilty of killing Jonalyn.
+owever, if some of the circumstances )relied on #y the trial court* have not #een duly esta#lished, the further 1uestion is whether the remaining ones are nevertheless sufficient to produce such conviction #eyond reasona#le dou#t9 NO. $ne such circumstantial evidence which must fail the tests provided in the Constitution,
8ith the eEtra-0udicial confession now declared inadmissi#le, the circumstantial evidence left should now #e tested if they still meet the 1uantum of proof to sustain appellants conviction9 NO. /side from the confession, another strong circumstantial evidence that the prosecution used against the appellant were the T-shirt and the #olo which had #een verified #y the NI to have #een stained #y human #lood. +owever, it must #e noted, as it has #een admitted, that these items were confiscated without the proper search warrant. The testimony of "%$& 'ome( and the rgy Capt to the effect that these items were 3in plian view4 is contrary to human eEperiencenature. The reason is o#vious7 if these items truly had #lood stains on it, it would have #een very unlikely to have left 0ust out there for everyone to notice. The police also failed to match the alleged human #lood found in these items with that of the victims. Now that the pro#ative value of the T-shirt and the #olo had #een put under serious dou#t, the only strong circumstantial evidence left for the prosecution is the pair of slippers found at the crime scene which two witnesses identified to #elong to the appellant Morada. "uffice it to say that the Court found these witnesses testimonies to #e strange, artificial and contrary to human eEperience. /ll told, no other strong circumstantial evidence is left to sustain Moradas conviction. +enceforth, he must #e ac1uitted.