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PEOPLE, appellee, vs. JULIO RECTO

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. JULIO RECTO y ROBEA, appellant.

G.R. No. 129069 | 2001-10-17

D E C I S I O N

PANGANIBAN, J.:

Treachery cannot be appreciated to qualify a killing to murder, if the accused has not deliberately sought to attack the vulnerability of the victim. In the present case, the latter evidently had the opportunity to escape or to defend himself, but chose not to grab the opportunity; instead, he placed himself in a position more open to attack.

The Case

For automatic review by this Court is the Decision[1] dated April 2, 1997, promulgated by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Romblon (Branch 81), which found Julio Recto y Robea guilty beyond reasonable doubt of (1) two counts of the complex crime of...