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PEOPLE vs Hernando De Mesa & Two (2) John Does

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. HERNANDO DE MESA and TWO (2) JOHN DOES, accused. / HERNANDO DE MESA, accused-appellant.

G.R. No. 137036 | 2001-03-14

D E C I S I O N

PUNO, J.:

In the evening of October 15, 1996, Patricio Motas, Barangay Chairman of Barangay Sta. Cruz Putol, San Pablo City, was shot dead while playing a card game with some townmates at a neighborhood store. One of those implicated in the killing was Hernando de Mesa, the appellant in this case.

Accused-appellant, together with two unidentified persons, were charged before the Regional Trial Court of San Pablo City, Branch 32 with the crime of murder under the following information:[1]

"The undersigned Assistant City Prosecutor accuses HERNANDO DE MESA and two (2) John Does of the crime of MURDER under Art. 248 of the...