URBANO vs. IAC (Criminal Law Review 1)

G.R. No. 72964 January 7, 1988

FILOMENO URBANO, petitioner,

vs.

HON. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT AND PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents.

FACTS:

Petitioner Filomeno Urbano went to his ricefield, He found the place where he stored his palay flooded with water coming from the irrigation canal nearby which had overflowed. Urbano went to the elevated portion of the canal to see what happened and there he saw Marcelo Javier and Emilio Erfe cutting grass. He asked them who was responsible for the opening of the irrigation canal and Javier admitted that he was the one. Urbano then got angry and demanded that Javier pay for his soaked palay. A quarrel between them ensued. 

Urbano unsheathed his bolo and hacked Javier hitting him on the right palm of his hand. Javier who was then unarmed ran away from Urbano but was overtaken by Urbano who hacked him again hitting Javier on the left leg with the back portion of said bolo, causing a swelling on said leg. When Urbano tried to hack and inflict further injury, his daughter embraced and prevented him from hacking Javier.

Javier was brought to a physician. After Javier was treated he undergo to medico-legal examination. Findings are : 1 -Incised wound 2 inches in length at the upper portion of the lesser palmar prominence, right. The incapacitation is from (7-9) days period. 

Then, Upon the intercession of Councilman, Urbano and Javier agreed to settle their differences. Urbano promised to pay P700.00 for the medical expenses of Javier. However 22 days after the said incident, Javier was rushed to the Hospital, Javier had lockjaw and was having convulsions. The doctor found that the latter's serious condition was caused by tetanus toxin. He noticed the presence of a healing wound in Javier's palm which could have been infected by tetanus.

Urbano was charged with the crime of homicide before the then Circuit Criminal Court. Upon arraignment, Urbano pleaded "not guilty." After trial, the trial court found Urbano guilty as charged. The Intermediate Appellate Court affirmed the conviction of Urbano on appeal.

The appellant filed a motion for reconsideration and/or new trial. The motion for new trial was based on an affidavit of Barangay Captain stating that he saw the late Marcelo Javier catching fish in the shallow irrigation canals with some companions. However the motion was denied. Hence, this petition.

ISSUE:

Whether there was an efficient intervening from the time Javier was wounded until his death which would exculpate Urbano from any liability for Javier's death.

RULING:

YES. In ruling in the case the SC explaim the proximate cause and even characterizes tetanus.

Proximate cause is that cause, which, in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury, and without which the result would not have occurred."

Mild tetanus is characterized by an incubation period of at least 14 days and an onset time of more than 6 days. 

Thus, it is more medically probable that Javier should have been infected with only a mild cause of tetanus because the symptoms of tetanus appeared on the 22nd day after the hacking incident or more than 14 days after the infliction of the wound. Therefore, the onset time should have been more than six days. Javier, however, died on the second day from the onset time. The more credible conclusion is that at the time Javier's wound was inflicted by the appellant, the severe form of tetanus that killed him was not yet present. Consequently, Javier's wound could have been infected with tetanus after the hacking incident. Considering the circumstance surrounding Javier's death, his wound could have been infected by tetanus 2 or 3 or a few but not 20 to 22 days before he died.

The rule is that the death of the victim must be the direct, natural, and logical consequence of the wounds inflicted upon him by the accused. (People v. Cardenas, supra) And since we are dealing with a criminal conviction, the proof that the accused caused the victim's death must convince a rational mind beyond reasonable doubt. The medical findings, however, lead us to a distinct possibility that the infection of the wound by tetanus was an efficient intervening cause later or between the time Javier was wounded to the time of his death. The infection was, therefore, distinct and foreign to the crime.

WHEREFORE, the instant petition is hereby GRANTED. The questioned decision of the then Intermediate Appellate Court, now Court of Appeals, is REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The petitioner is ACQUITTED of the crime of homicide.