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PEOPLE Vs. Alfredo Alcantara, Et Al.

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ALFREDO ALCANTARA y GACAD, accused-appellant.

G.R. No. 91283 | 1995-01-17

D E C I S I O N


PUNO, J.:

This is the plight of a poor man with only a third-grade education. He was illegally arrested, 1 arbitrarily detained, 2 tortured into confessing his guilt, convicted of the crime of robbery with homicide and sentenced to reclusion perpetua. Insisting that his guilt was not established with moral certainty, he appeals his conviction to this Court. We find merit in his cause.

On September 7, 1988, appellant was arraigned under an Information, dated August 10, 1988, charging him and four others with the crime of "Robbery with Homicide and Frustrated Homicide." 3 Appellant pleaded not guilty. The other accused...