This case has been cited 4 times or more.
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2003-09-30 |
QUISUMBING, J. |
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| When the issue boils down to the credibility of witnesses, the appellate court will not generally disturb the findings of the trial court because the latter is in the vantage position of observing witnesses through the various indicia of truthfulness or falsehood.[82] However, this rule is not absolute. One exception is where the judge who wrote the decision did not personally hear the prosecution's evidence.[83] In this case, the records show that Judge Angel V. Colet, who authored the assailed decision, took over from Judge Benigno M. Galacgac only on April 29, 1997 or after the witnesses for the prosecution had testified. It does not follow, however, that a judge who was not present at the trial cannot render a just and valid judgment. The records and the transcripts of stenographic notes are available to him as basis for his decision. | |||||
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2003-09-23 |
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J. |
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| Conspiracy as a basis for conviction must rest on nothing less than a moral certainty. Considering the far-reaching consequences of criminal conspiracy, the same degree of proof necessary in establishing the crime is required to support the attendance thereof, i.e., it must be shown to exist as clearly and convincingly as the commission of the offense itself.[23] | |||||
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2002-09-17 |
QUISUMBING, J. |
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| offense itself. It is a fundamental rule that a charge of conspiracy must be proven, just like any other criminal accusation, "independently and beyond reasonable doubt".[47] In her case, even the Solicitor General manifested "there is no clear independent evidence showing appellant's conspiracy with the other accused."[48] In our view, there appears no convincing evidence that she had participated in the planning and the actual commission of the crime together with her co-appellants. In fine, while we sustain the conviction of appellants Ernesto Sabiyon and Cesario Murphy, we find no sufficient evidence to prove the guilt of appellant Lolita Santos. The records are simply too sparse to link her to the killing of Ben Hernandez. Perforce she must be | |||||