People v.

Ricohermoso
Facts
● Geminiano owned a parcel of land in that barrio which Ricohermoso cultivated as
kaingin.
● Geminiano said he wanted to taste the palay harvested from his land
● Ricohermoso told him he could go to his house anytime so he can receive palay
● When Geminiano went to Ricohermoso’s place and asked him about the palay,
Ricohermoso was hostile
● As if pre-arranged, Ricohermoso unsheathed his bolo and approached
Geminiano from the left, while Ricohermoso's father-inlaw was holding an axe
and approached Geminiano from the right
● Ricohermoso stabbed him on the neck with his bolo.
● Geminiano fell face downward on the ground.
● Then he was hacked on the back with an axe by Severo Padernal.
● Juan Padernal suddenly embraced Marianito de Leon from behind, with his right
arm locked around Marianito's neck
● They grappled and rolled downhill towards a camote patch.
● Marianito passed out and found his rifle was gone

Issue
● W/N Juan Padernal conspired with Ricohermoso and Severo Padernal to kill
Geminiano de Leon.
Ratio
● Appellant Juan Padernal invokes the justifying circumstance of avoidance of a
greater evil or injury in explaining his act of attacking Marianito de Leon
● His reliance on the justifying circumstance is erroneous because his doing so
was not designed to avoid evil but to prevent interference in the assault of
Geminiano