G.R. No. L-24978 March 27, 1926
Lessons Applicable: when negligent, mistake of fact is not a
defense
Laws Applicable:
FACTS:
·
Before the day of crime: Moro prisoners had
escaped from the Penal Colony of San Ramon, Zamboanga
·
3 suspicious looking persons who were prowling
around the place alarmed the residents
·
As municipal policeman Fernando de Fernando, Paciencia
Delgado daughter of Remigio Delgado told him that her father wished to see him
·
Remigio Delgado informed him that the 3 suspicious
persons in blue were lurking in his house
·
About 7pm: De Fernando seated on a bench near
the window talking to Paciencia when about 4 meters from the stairs was a
person in dark clothes with 3 bolos tied together calling out “Nong Miong”
without answering the inquiry of De Fernando.
o
De Fernando took out his revolver and fired a
shot in the air but the person still continued to go up the stairs so he shot
him at the base of the neck at the right side
o
The shot person turned out to be Buenventura
Paulino, nephew of Remigio, who ran to their neighbor Leon Torres’ house,
placing the bolo on the table, fell on the floor and died
·
de Fernando called the police chief to relay
what happened
·
CFI of Zamboanga: guilty of the crime of murder
ISSUE: W/N de Fernando is guilty of
negligence
HELD: YES. reversing the appealed
judgment, guilty of the crime of homicide through reckless negligence
·
De Fernando failed to use the ordinary
precaution that he should have used before taking such fatal action
o
The calling of “Nong Miong” indicated that the
owner of the house might be an older relative of the one calling, or an
intimate friend
o
De Fernando failed to ask Paciencia Delgado who
was it was that was calling her father with such familiarity
·
NO malicious intent because he though at the
time that he was justified in acting as he did
·
homicide through reckless negligence under
article 568, in relation with article 404, of the Penal Code