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PP Vs Esponilla 404 Scra 421
PP Vs Esponilla 404 Scra 421
PARTIES:
FACTS:
1. Felipe Esponilla and Samson Esponilla were convicted of murder by the lower court for
shooting one Jose Eumag at the back with a firearm which caused his immediate death.
2. A criminal case for frustrated murder against the appellants for the shooting of Jose was
pending in the RTC, Branch 36, Iloilo City.
ISSUES:
1. WON the lower court erred in convicting the accused of murder based on one
circumstantial evidence; and
2. WON, granting for the sake of argument that accused are guilty, the lower court erred in
finding a case of murder and not homicide
HELD:
2. NO. The trial court correctly appreciated treachery as having qualified the killing of the
victim to murder. In this case, the victim was in a wide open field, plowing his
farm. The attack was a complete surprise and was unprovoked. There was hardly any
risk at all to the appellants. The victim was plowing his farmland, completely impervious
that death was at hand. He was unarmed and was not in a position to defend himself
against the assault of the appellants. Clearly, he was killed in a treacherous manner.