This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2002-02-06 |
PUNO, J. |
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| We now come to the characterization of the crimes for which the trial court convicted the accused Castillo. The trial court found the accused Castillo guilty of three counts of murder and four counts of frustrated murder. While the information charged the accused with the complex crime of multiple murder with multiple frustrated murder, we agree with the trial court that he should be held guilty of three separate counts of murder in accordance with prevailing jurisprudence.[30] We, however, find that the trial court erred in convicting the accused Castillo of four counts of frustrated murder as the evidence on record shows that only Catalina de Leon's gunshot wounds could have been fatal were it not for the timely medical treatment she received. For this, the accused is guilty of one count of frustrated murder. As there is a dearth of evidence that Gregoria de Leon, Lorenzo de Leon, and Racquel Agbuya sustained fatal wounds, it cannot be said that the accused performed the last act necessary to produce the consummated crime of murder. While the accused may have had the intent to kill these three victims as manifested by their use of deadly weapons in their attack, the absence of evidence that they sustained fatal wounds compels us to convict the accused of three counts of attempted murder.[31] | |||||