PEOPLE v. ABUNDIO ROLUNA GR No. 101797

PEOPLE v.
ABUNDIO ROLUNA
GR No. 101797, 1994-03-24
Topic: Corpus Delicti
Case: Petition to dismiss the kidnapping with murder case against Roluna on the grounds that the
prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove Corpus Delicti
Parties:
Victim - Anatalio Moronia
Accused/Petitioner – Abundio Roluna
Witnesses – Conrado Sombilon, Buenaventura Nogalada
Facts:
 (8) persons were charged with the crime of Kidnapping with Murder before the Regional Trial
Court
 CONRADO SOMBILON testified
o At a distance of thirty (30) meters, he saw his neighbor, Anatalio Moronia, stopped in...
his tracks and taken captive by accused Abundio Roluna.
o Roluna was then accompanied by seven (7) other persons
o Roluna was armed with... an armalite while his companions were carrying short
firearms.
o Using an abaca strip, he saw Carlos Daguing tie up the hands of Moronia at the back.
o Frightened, he did not shout for help and proceeded on his way.
 BUENAVENTURA NOGALADA corroborated in substance the testimony of Sombilon
o At a distance of about twenty-five(25) meters, he saw Moronia walking along a human
trail in barangay Amguhan, with his hands tied by a rope behind his back.
o Moronia was followed by accused Roluna, Carlos Daguing and five (5) other persons
whom he did not recognize.
o Accused Roluna was carrying an armalite whileCarlos Daguing was armed with a pistol.
o From that time on, both witnesses testified that Moronia was never seen or heard from.
 Roluna hoisted the defense of denial and alibi:
o Danilo Noroño, a cousin of his wife, went to their house in barangay Amguhan.
Corroborated by his wife
 Court finds accused Abundio Roluna y Elhig guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the complex
crime of Kidnapping With Murder. Hence this appeal.
 Accused-appellant points and stresses that the corpus... delicti was not duly proved by the
prosecution.
 He submits, inter alia, that considering that the body of Anatalio Moronia was never found,
Moronia's questionable and unexplained absence and disappearance... should not be blamed on
him for the alleged victim, in all probability, may still be alive.
Issues:
 Whether or not the circumstances proved by the prosecution are sufficient to establish the
death of Anatalio Moronia
 if in the affirmative, whether or not accused-appellants and his companions could be held liable
therefore.
Note: These are the elements of Corpus Delicti.

o The existence of a certain act or result forming the basis of the criminal charge
o The existence of a criminal agency as the cause of this act or result. Meaning, the person
is responsible for the crime, beyond reasonable doubt.
Held:
 IN VIEW WHEREOF, the appealed decision is hereby MODIFIED. Accused-appellant Abundio

Roluna is found guilty of slight illegal detention and is meted an indeterminate sentence from
twelve (12) years of prision mayor as... minimum to twenty (20) years of reclusion temporal as
maximum.[13] Costs against accused-appellant.
Doctrine:
Corpus delicti has been defined as the body or substance of the crime and, in its primary sense, refers to
the fact that a crime has been actually committed.
Insofar as the death of Moronia is concerned, the fact that he was last seen on May 27, 1984 with his
hands tied at the back and accompanied by eight (8) armed men undoubtedly shows that his life was
then in danger or peril.
Coupled with the fact that Moronia... has been absent and unheard from since that time until the trial of
this case (or a total of six years), a presumption of death was sufficiently raised.
First Element is met. The existence of a certain act or result forming the basis of the criminal
charge
However, the circumstances presented by the prosecution would not be enough to hold accused-
appellant responsible for the death of Moronia.
The Court recognized that there are cases where the death and intervention of the criminal agency
that... caused it may be presumed or established by circumstantial evidence.
In this case, however, the prosecution witnesses testified that they merely saw one of the accused,
Carlos Daguing, tie up the hands of Moronia.
At no point during... the trial was it ever established that any of the eight (8) accused beat up Moronia or
in any way laid a violent hand on him.
Second Element of Corpus Delicti is not met. On the whole, the evidence adduced by the
prosecution would not prove beyond a shadow of... a doubt that accused-appellant should be convicted
for the serious crime of kidnapping with murder. Decision is modified from Kidnapping with murder to
minor illegal detention.

PEOPLE v. ABUNDIO ROLUNA GR No. 101797

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PEOPLE v. ABUNDIO ROLUNA GR No. 101797

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

PEOPLE v. ABUNDIO ROLUNA GR No. 101797

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PEOPLE v.

GR No. 101797, 1994-03-24

Topic: Corpus Delicti

Victim - Anatalio Moronia

Accused/Petitioner – Abundio Roluna

Witnesses – Conrado Sombilon, Buenaventura Nogalada

Note: These are the elements of Corpus Delicti.

 IN VIEW WHEREOF, the appealed decision is hereby MODIFIED. Accused-appellant Abundio

You might also like