THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FRANCISCO CAGOCO Y RAMONES, defendant-appellant GR No.

L-38511 October 6, 1933 FACTS On July 24, 1932, Manila, the accused willfully, unlawfully, feloniously, without any just cause therefor and with intent to kill and treachery, assaulted and attacked Yu Lon by suddenly giving him a fist blow on the back part of the head, treacherously, under conditions which intended directly and especially to insure, the accomplishment of his purpose without risk to himself arising from any defense the victim Yu Lon might make, thus causing him to fall on the ground as a consequence of which he suffered a lacerated wound in the scalp and a fissured fracture on the left occipital region, which were necessarily mortal and which caused the immediate death of the said Yu Lon. Defendant was found guilty of murder in the CFI, for which the defendant made an appeal. Counsel enumerated the following assignment of error: (1) that the trial court erred in finding the true assailant of Yu Lon, (2) assuming that the appellant is such person, the trial court erred in finding that the appellant struck his supposed victim, (3) assuming that the appellant is such person, and that the appellant did indeed strike Yu Lon, the trial court erred in that the blow was struck in the rear, (4) the trial court erred in finding that the identity of the appellant was fully established, (5) the trial court erred in convicting the appellant of murder (Art 248) rather than maltreatment (Art 266). DECISION COURT OF ORIGIN Defendant was found guilty of murder by Judge Luis P. Torres ISSUE W/N a naturally resulting injury from a direct consequence of an unlawful act would make the aggressor criminally liable DECISION APPELLATE COURT J. Vickers. Regarding the contention of the appellant that striking Yu Lon at the back of the head would not possibly cause him to fall forward on his face to the pavement, the Court declared that the expert testimony shows that the victim had undergone a natural phenomenon of falling backwards on the pavement in an attempt to regain balance. Another consideration was the slope of the sidewalk, which could have made Yu Lon fall the opposite direction from which he was struck, as he tried to straighten up. The Court referred to paragraph 1, Article 4 of the RPC which provides that criminal liability shall be incurred by any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful act done be different from what he intended; but in order that a person be criminally liable, the following requisites must be present: (1) that a felony was committed, and (2) that the wrong done to the aggrieved person be the direct consequence of the crime committed by the offender. There is no doubt as to the cause of the death of Yu Lon, which occurred as the direct consequence of the blow dealt by the appellant, and the fact that the defendant did not intend to cause so great an injury does not relieve him from the consequence of his unlawful act but is merely a mitigating circumstance (US vs Rodriguez, 23 Phil 22). Notes: Appellate court mentioned the US vs Brobst case, where it was held that death may result from a blow over or near the heart or in the abdominal region, notwithstanding the fact that the blow leaves no outward mark of violence; that where death results as the direct consequence of the use of illegal violence, the mere fact that the diseased or weakened condition of the injured person contributed to his death, does not relieve the illegal aggressor of criminal responsibility. Companion of Yu Lon: YU YEE