This case has been cited 2 times or more.
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2004-06-14 |
PUNO, J. |
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| All told, contrary to the pronouncements of the trial court, we cannot rest easy in convicting the two (2) accused based on circumstantial evidence. For, the pieces of the said circumstantial evidence presented do not inexorably lead to the conclusion that they are guilty.[83] The prosecution witness failed to identify the accused in court. A cloud of doubt continues to hover over the gun used and the slug recovered. The dying declaration and paraffin examination remain unreliable. Godofredo's uncounseled admissions including the gun he turned in are barred as evidence. And, the supposed motive of the accused is simply insufficient. Plainly, the facts from which the inference that the accused committed the crime were not proven. Accordingly, the guilt of the accused cannot be established, more so to a moral certainty. It is when evidence is purely circumstantial that the prosecution is much more obligated to rely on the strength of its own case and not on the weakness of the defense, and that conviction must rest on nothing less than moral certainty.[84] | |||||