G.R. No.

L-42117             March 29, 1935

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee,
vs.
GREGORIO REYES, defendant-appellant.
Facts:
Fausta Tavera, deceased, and Gregorio Reyes, appellant, had been living
together for a couple of weeks before her parents had persuaded her to
come home and were demanding that appellant pay a dowry of P30 before
the date of the celebration of the marriage could be fixed.  On the evening of
April 30, 1934, during an impromptu dance for a barrio procession, the
deceased and appellant were talking in the yard of the house. The deceased
informed the appellant that she could not return to him and she was going
with her parents in Catanduanes. Appellant dragged the deceased towards
the street and stabbed her in the chest with a fanknife. The deceased ran to
the house of the barrio lieutenant, a short distance away, falling deed at the
foot of the staircase, although the wound was only a slight one, it not having
penetrated the thoracic cavity, having hit a bone. The three relatives of the
deceased attempted to seize the appellant but the latter immediately ran
away. The appellant attested in his own behalf claimed that he was attacked
by the three relatives of the deceased and that the wound he inflicted on the
deceased is purely accidental provoked by the affray.
Issue:
Whether or not the act done by the appellant is accidental
Ruling:
No, the court held that the act done by the appellant is not accidental.
Article 4 (2) of the Revised Penal Code states that, “ By any person
peforming an act which would be an offense against persons or property,
were it not or the inherent impossibility of its accomplishment or on account
of the employment of inadequate or ineffectual means.”
In the present case, the trial court considered provocation as a mitigating
circumstance based on the testimony of appellant that he had been
attacked, overlooking the fact that the law requires that the provocation
come from the offended party. Certainly, the deceased did not attack
appellant, and her refusal to renew her illicit relationship with him can hardly
be construed as legal provocation. The appellant is found guilty beyond
reasonable doubt of the crime of homicide without either aggravating or
mitigating circumstances. He is sentenced from eight years of prision mayor
to fourteen years, eight months, and one day of reclusion temporal and to
indemnify the heirs of the offended party in the sum of P1,000.