G.R. No.

131813               September 29, 2000

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-
appellee, 
vs.
MARIO ABENDAN, accused-appellant.
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
FACTS: Mario Abendan was charged with
murder. After trial he was convicted. He was
sentenced to death by the trial judge because of
his recidivism, because, the judge found out that
while the murder case was being tried by him,
the same accused had been convicted of two
other murder and one frustrated murder by
another court recently.
ISSUE: Did the trial court judge acted correctly
in considering that the accused was a recidivist?
Is the accused Mario Abendan a recidivist?
HELD: No. The trial court judge may have been
swayed by the prior convictions handed down in
the two other murder cases while the case under
his sala was being tried. However, such
previous convictions do not make the accused a
recidivist, until and unless said convictions
become final. There was no showing that the
judgment of the trial court in said cases had
indeed become final. Thus, there was no legal
basis to declare the accused a recidivist and no
basis to sentence him to death. The penalty was
reduced to Reclusion Perpetua.