Two Decisions were promulgated by the trial court in this case:
the first one for conviction, and the second for acquittal. We are
called upon to resolve the procedural question of whether the
promulgation in absentia of the earlier judgment of conviction
was valid.
This Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 seeks a
reversal of the Court of Appeals (CA) Decision[1] and
Resolution[2] in CA-G.R. SP No. 97629. The CA affirmed the
Decision[3] of Branch 40 of the Regional Trial Court of Palayan
City, Nueva Ecija (the RTC of Palayan City) in Criminal Case No.
1066-P, penned by Judge Corazon D. Soluren (Judge Soluren).
Judge Soluren reversed a previous Decision[4] penned by Judge
Erlinda P. Buted (Judge Buted). In the earlier Decision,
respondent was convicted of murder with frustrated murder
and multiple attempted murder, and was meted the death
penalty.
The Antecedents Facts
This case originated from a criminal case for murder with
frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder lodged in
Branch 96 of the Regional Trial Court of Baler, Aurora (the RTC
of Baler). The Information charged respondent Pepito Gonzales
as follows:
That on December 25, 1997 at around 11:30 o'clock in the
evening in Barangay Diarabasin, Municipality of Dipaculao,
Province of Aurora, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of
this Honorable Court, the accused with intent to kill and with
the use of treachery and evident premeditation, did then and
there, willfully, unlawfully and feloniously throw a grenade
inside the house of one Leonardo Hermenigildo while the latter
and his companions Rulino Concepcion, who sustained mortal
wounds which were the direct and immediate cause of his
death thereafter; that as further consequence of said explosion,
Leonardo Hermenigildo was also hit and sustained physical
injuries fatal enough to cause his death without immediate and
able medical attendance; that Julio Toledo, Ariel Cabasal and
Jesus Macatiag were also hit and likewise sustained physical
injuries, but the said accused did not perform all the acts of
execution which should have produced the crime of multiple
murder as a consequence, by reason of causes other than his
own spontaneous desistance, that is, the injuries sustained by
said Julio Toledo, Ariel Cabasal and Jesus Macatiag were not
necessarily mortal.[5]
Gonzales filed a Motion for Bail[6] with the RTC of Baler. Private
complainant Carmen Macatiag (Macatiag)—sister of the
deceased victim, Rufino Concepcion —filed her Opposition[7] to
Gonzales's Motion for Bail Gonzales then filed a Comment[8] to
which Macatiag filed her Reply.[9] The RTC Baler issued an
Order[10] granting Gonzales bail.
Thereafter, Macatiag filed with this Court an Urgent Petition for
Transfer of Venue.[11] While her petition was pending, she filed a
Motion for Reconsideration[12] of the Order of the RTC of Baler
granting bail to Gonzales, who filed his Opposition[13] to her
motion. The RTC of Baler denied[14] the Motion for
Reconsideration and upheld its Order granting bail. Macatiag
also filed with the RTC of Baler a Manifestation and Motion to
Suspend Proceedings[15] pending the resolution of her previous
petition for transfer of venue.
On 17 August 1999, the Court granted the transfer of venue and
reassigned the case to the RTC of Palayan City, which was then
presided by Judge Erlinda Buted.[16] Trial on the merits ensued.
The RTC admitted the prosecution's Formal Offer of Evidence.
[17]
Gonzales filed an Urgent Motion for Leave to File Demurrer
to Evidence.[18] To this motion he attached a Demurrer to
Evidence,[19] which the RTC denied.[20] Following the denial,
Gonzales presented his evidence and witnesses and filed his
Formal Offer of Evidence.[21]
Thereafter, on 30 November 2005, the RTC issued an
Order[22] setting the promulgation of the case on 15 December
2005. The Return of Service[23] indicated that the Order dated 30
November 2005 and the Notice of Promulgation dated 6
December 2005 were received on 7 and 12 December 2005 by
the sister of private respondent, who refused to sign the
Return.
On 15 December 2005, the scheduled date of promulgation,
Gonzales failed to appear. His lawyer, Atty. Mario Benitez (Atty.
Benitez), personally filed a "Withdrawal of Counsel"[24] with his
client's conformity.[25] The promulgation was rescheduled to 22
December 2005.[26] On the same date, a warrant of arrest[27] was
issued and the bond forfeited in view of the nonappearance of
the accused, who was deemed to have jumped bail.
A Notice of Hearing/Subpoena and Notice of Promulgation of
Judgment[28] was issued on 15 December 2005 commanding the
parties to appear before the Court on 22 December 2015.
Notices were sent to Gonzales and Macatiag.[29]
On 22 December 2005, Gonzales still failed to appear without
any justification. Judge Buted appointed a counsel de oficio in
lieu of Atty. Benitez.[30] The Branch Clerk of Court thereafter
read the dispositive portion of Judge Buted's Decision in the
presence of the public prosecutor, the counsel de oficio, and the
heirs of Macatiag. Macatiag had been killed on 14 December
2005, just a day before the first promulgation date, and
Gonzales was also an accused in her killing. Gonzales was
convicted of the murder charges:
WHEREFORE, the Accused is found GUILTY beyond reasonable
doubt of the complex crime of MURDER with FRUSTRATED
MURDER and MULTIPLE ATTEMPTED MURDER and is hereby
sentenced to a single indivisible penalty of DEATH.[31]
Thereafter, the Clerk of Court was directed to enter the
judgment of conviction in the RTC's criminal docket pursuant to
paragraph 4, Section 6, Rule 120 of the Revised Rules of
Criminal Procedure.[32] Since the death penalty was still in force
at the time the judgment was promulgated, Judge Buted also
ordered that the records of the case be immediately forwarded
to the CA for automatic review.[33]
In less than a month after the judgment of conviction was
rendered, or on 6 January 2006, private respondent Gonzales
filed, through Atty. Benitez, an Omnibus Motion[34] asking that
the judgment promulgated on 22 December 2005 be
reconsidered and set aside. Gonzales argued that he had not
been properly notified of the promulgation of judgment; that
he had not been represented by counsel; and that the RTC had
proceeded with deliberate haste in convicting him.
The trial court, now presided by Judge Soluren, gave due course
to the motion of Gonzales and granted it through an Order
dated 18 April 2006. The Order set aside the judgment of
conviction and reinstated his bail.[35]