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PEOPLE vs. Luz Carpio Vda. De Quijano, et al.

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. LUZ CARPIO VDA. DE QUIJANO, AND GERRY CA?ETE y VILLAS, accused-appellants

G.R. No. 102045 | 1993-03-17

D E C I S I O N

CAMPOS, JR., J p:

The case at bar can very well qualify as an Agatha Christie thriller. A person is killed. Two persons are prime suspects but the authorities cannot pinpoint who was the murderer. Can the court convict all the suspects if the evidence fail to establish who stabbed the victim to death? For lack of evidence, direct or circumstantial, sufficient to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, must all the accused be given the benefit of presumption of innocence? This is the dilemma which faces the Court in this case.

This is an appeal from the decision, * dated April 30, 1991, of the Regional Trial Court,...