(34.1) G.R. No. 241012 - People v. Torres y Palis

SECOND DIVISION 34.
[G.R. No. 241012. August 28, 2019.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES , plaintiff-appellee, vs. CROMWELL

TORRES y PALIS , accused-appellant.
DECISION
J.C. REYES, JR. , J : p
This is an appeal from the Decision 1 dated February 12, 2018 of the Court of
Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 07659 which a rmed the Decision 2 dated April 13,
2015 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 74 of Antipolo City in Criminal Case No.
09-38829, nding Cromwell Torres y Palis (appellant) guilty beyond reasonable doubt
of the crime of Murder under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
On August 18, 2009, appellant was charged with murder in an Information 3
which states:
That on or about the 15th day of August, 2009, in the City of Antipolo,
Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named
accused, armed with an unlicensed improvised shotgun, with intent to kill, and
with the qualifying circumstance of treachery and evident premeditation, did,
then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and shoot
one KIM KENNETH PULUMBARIT 4 y SANTOS while he was starting the engine
of his motorcycle, thereby in icting upon the latter multiple gunshot wounds on
the trunk which directly caused his death.
CONTRARY TO LAW.
Upon arraignment on February 2, 2010, appellant, duly assisted by counsel de
officio, pleaded not guilty to the crime.
During the trial, the prosecution presented witnesses Richard Gemao, Lalaine De
Vera, Police Chief Inspector Dean Cabrera, medico-legal o cer of the Philippine
National Police (PNP), and Karen S. Palumbarit. On the other hand, the defense
presented appellant as its sole witness.
Evidence for the Prosecution
Prosecution witness Richard Gemao (Gemao) testi ed that on August 15, 2009,
at around 10:15 P.M., he was in front of his house in Purok II, Zone 8, Cupang, Antipolo
City when he saw the victim Kim Kenneth S. Palumbarit (Palumbarit) in front of a store
about ten steps away from him. Palumbarit was about to start the engine of his
motorcycle when appellant, who was standing near a guyabano tree, walked towards
the store. Appellant shifted to Palumbarit's direction, remarked " tarantado ka!" and
thereafter shot him from behind using an improvised shotgun commonly known as
"sumpak" loaded with ammunition. Gemao saw Palumbarit who was thrown off his
motorcycle and fell to the ground. He was about to extend help to Palumbarit when he
sensed that appellant was observing him. He then backed off and returned inside his
house. 5
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he voluntarily submits to the jurisdiction of the trial court. We have also held in a
number of cases that the illegal arrest of an accused is not a su cient cause
for setting aside a valid judgment rendered upon a su cient complaint after a
trial free from error; such arrest does not negate the validity of the conviction of
the accused.
xxx xxx xxx
Appellant admitted the court's jurisdiction over his person during the pre-trial
conference. He pleaded not guilty to the charge sans any objection surrounding his
arrest. He did not move to quash the information on the ground of lack of jurisdiction
before he entered his plea. In fact, he actively participated during the trial, presented his
evidence before the court and challenged the validity of his arrest only for the rst time
on appeal. All these taken together clearly allude that appellant has waived any
irregularity, if any, attendant to his arrest. Hence, appellant is now precluded from
questioning the legality of his arrest following his voluntary and unconditional
submission to the jurisdiction of the court.
Substantively, appellant maintains that the prosecution failed to prove his guilt
beyond reasonable doubt and anchors his plea for acquittal on the trial court's alleged
erroneous appreciation of the qualifying circumstance of treachery.
Article 248 of the RPC defined and penalized the crime of murder as follows:
ART. 248. Murder. — Any person who, not falling within the
provisions of Article 246, shall kill another, shall be guilty of murder and shall be
punished by reclusion perpetua, to death if committed with any of the following
attendant circumstances:
1. With treachery, taking advantage of superior strength, with the aid of
armed men, or employing means to weaken the defense, or of
means or persons to insure or afford impunity;
2. In consideration of a price, reward, or promise;
3. By means of inundation, fire, poison, explosion, shipwreck, stranding
of a vessel, derailment or assault upon a railroad, fall of an airship,
by means of motor vehicles, or with the use of any other means
involving great waste and ruin;
4. On occasion of any calamities enumerated in the preceding
paragraph, or of an earthquake, eruption of a volcano, destructive
cyclone, epidemic, or any other public calamity;
5. With evident premeditation;
6. With cruelty, by deliberately and inhumanly augmenting the
suffering of the victim, or outraging or sco ng at his person or
corpse.
The prosecution must establish with moral certainty the elements of the crime,
to wit: 1) a person was killed; 2) the accused killed him; 3) the killing was attended by
any of the qualifying circumstances mentioned in Art. 248; and 4) the killing is not
parricide or infanticide. 2 0
The Certi cate of Death 2 1 showing that victim Kim Kenneth Palumbarit died on
August 15, 2009 from multiple gunshot wounds on the trunk is part of the records of
the case, thereby satisfying the rst element. Similarly undisputed is the fourth element
since the RTC and the CA are uniform in their ndings that Palumbarit's killing does not
constitute parricide or infanticide.
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SECOND DIVISION 34.

[G.R. No. 241012. August 28, 2019.]

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES , plaintiff-appellee, vs. CROMWELL

J.C. REYES, JR. , J : p

Evidence for the Prosecution

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