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PEOPLE vs. de la Cruz, Abundio , et al.

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ABUNDIO DE LA CRUZ, ET AL., accused-appellant.

G.R. No. L-33030 | 1983-08-25

D E C I S I O N


GUTIERREZ, JR., J.:

The case before us on automatic review of a judgment sentencing the appellant to death is an uncommon one.

The killing of a prominent lawyer which led to the murder charge took place in 1944 during the Japanese occupation. The original information was filed in 1947. The accused were arrested in 1950. During the preliminary investigation of the three accused in 1951, the appellant and one co-accused jumped bail and disappeared. The third co-accused was tried in 1959, almost nine years later. He implicated his two missing co-accused, was found guilty, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He has...