This case has been cited 4 times or more.
|
2015-03-18 |
LEONEN, J. |
||||
| It must be stressed that in our criminal justice system, the overriding consideration is not whether the court doubts the innocence of the accused, but whether it entertains a reasonable doubt as to their guilt. Where there is no moral certainty as to their guilt, they must be acquitted even though their innocence may be questionable. The constitutional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty can be overthrown only by proof beyond reasonable doubt.[66] (Emphasis in the original, citations omitted) | |||||
|
2003-11-18 |
VITUG, J. |
||||
| Evidently, Conchita Magpantay Pasquin was a victim of foul play. The circumstances recited by the trial court, however, would be insufficient to create in the mind of the Court a moral certainty that appellant was the one responsible for the commission of the crime. Appellant's mere presence at the locus criminis would be inadequate to implicate him[8] in the commission of the crime. No evidence was adduced that appellant was the last person to see or talk to the victim before she was killed. Roel Sicangco testified that when he and Myla arrived at Conchita's office, the latter had just finished talking to a woman and a man with a collector's bag. After Roel and Myla finished their transaction with Conchita, the same man and woman, whom they saw earlier, again entered Conchita's office. Roel testified that he saw Johnny come out of the office and board a passenger jeepney going to Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga. The prosecution failed to show that Sicangco had any good reason to lie. Even while the trial court had observed that Conchita's jewelry and money were never found, no evidence was introduced that appellant had them, or that he had them in his possession at anytime after Conchita's death. The trial court found it strange that appellant did not wait for Conchita when the latter said that she was also leaving for Manila. Appellant said that he did offer to wait for Conchita but she told him to go ahead as she still had some other work to attend to. | |||||
|
2003-08-12 |
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J. |
||||
| To conclude, it must be stressed that in our criminal justice system, the overriding consideration is not whether the court doubts the innocence of the accused, but whether it entertains a reasonable doubt as to their guilt. Where there is no moral certainty as to their guilt, they must be acquitted even though their innocence may be questionable. The constitutional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty can be overthrown only by proof beyond reasonable doubt.[19] In fact, unless the prosecution discharges the burden of proving the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, the latter need not even offer evidence in his behalf.[20] | |||||