Common presumption

The law presumes that a person possesses full control of his mental faculties. Thus when he commits a crime, and he invokes insanity or imbecility as a circumstance that will exempt him from criminal liability, he must establish by clear and competent evidence that he has completely lost his reason or is demented immediately prior to or at the very moment the crime is committed. This is explained in this case of Cardo.

Cardo is a probinsyano residing in a barrio of a Southern Luzon town. He has been attracting the attention not only of his family but his barrio mates because of his unusual behaviors, such as looking blankly at a distance, hitting his wife or banging her head on the wall for no reason and having sleepless nights. So his sister Celia has to bring him to the National Mental Hospital where he was confined for four months and was diagnosed to be suffering from “schizophreniform disorder.”

After his release from the hospital he lived with his mother and his two children at a nearby barangay in the same town. But almost ten years after his release his condition did not seem to improve as he again exhibited the same unusual behavior. So Celia once more referred his case to her psychologist friend who conducted a psychological examination of Cardo. After a few hours of testing the psychologist found that the mental activity of Cardo was functioning at a normal level, that he comprehended instructions fast and that he was suffering only from mild depression although he was exhibiting homicidal tendencies.

About four months after his psychological test, Cardo went to the house of his other sister, Lilia located in a nearby town purposely to watch TV. Upon his arrival, he saw the basketball team of Arman celebrating at the terrace of the house for winning a trophy. Among the group having a drinking session were Danny, Gardy, Bert, Benny and Tino. Cardo joined them and when they were already in high spirits, Cardo and Danny even danced the cha-cha in the shade (sulambi) near the terrace as the others watched and clapped their hands

When the dance was finished, Cardo left the house. After a while Danny invited Arman to go home. The two left the house with Danny walking ahead of Arman. While they were walking Arman saw Cardo, who was waiting along the way, stab Danny with a balisong in the abdominal region. Danny held the hand of Cardo and while they were grappling, Danny was able to extricate himself and started to run away as Cardo chased him. And when Cardo caught up with Danny, he stabbed Danny at the back. Danny fell to the ground and tried to get up again but he fell down. So Cardo stabbed him once more on the chest.

At that time, Gardy was urinating about ten paces away as he heard Lilia shouting at Cardo: “husay ka Cardo pihadong makukulong ka, sinaksak mo si Danny.” And when he turned to where the shout came from, he saw Danny running towards him pursued by Cardo. He saw blood on Danny’s body and held his arm and tried to hug him but Danny fell to the ground. At that point he saw Cardo flee.

On the other hand, Arman who was just one meter away, failed to do anything to help Danny as he was so stunned and shocked. Later on, he and the relatives of Danny just brought Danny to the provincial hospital where Danny was pronounced dead on arrival.

The municipal health officer who conducted the post mortem examination found that Danny sustained eight stab wounds at different parts of the body of different sizes which caused his death. So the provincial prosecutor charged Cardo with the crime of murder as the killing was allegedly done with treachery and evident premeditation.

At the trial, Cardo pleaded insanity to escape from criminal liability. His main witnesses were his sister Lilia, the psychologist who examined him and the medical records officer of the National Mental Hospital where he was confined for four months about ten years ago.

But the trial court still convicted him of murder because the killing was done with treachery and evident premeditation. He was sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua and to pay damages to the heirs of Danny. Was the lower court correct?

According to the Supreme Court, the lower court is correct in rejecting the defense of insanity or imbecility raised by Cardo in the absence of positive evidence that Cardo had previously lost his reason or was demented moments prior to or during the perpetration of the crime. The testimony of the psychologist who may be considered as an expert witness for her academic qualifications, fails to establish the legal insanity of Cardo. The results of the test she conducted about four months before the incident do not prove his alleged insanity.

To be exempted from criminal liability under Article 12, par 1 of the Revised Penal Code, there must be complete deprivation of rationality in committing the act, i.e, that the accused be deprived of reason, that there be no consciousness of responsibility for his acts, or that there be complete absence of the power to discern. Mere mental depravity, or moral insanity, so called, which results not from disease of mind but from the perverted condition of the moral system where the person is mentally sane, does not exempt one from responsibility for crimes committed under its influence. There must be complete deprivation of intelligence – not only of the will – in committing the act.

Cardo is guilty of the crime of murder only because the killing was done with treachery but not with evident premeditation as only a few minutes had passed from the time he left his sister’s house to the time he stabbed the victim. But since he voluntarily surrendered his sentence must be reduced to 10 years and 1 day minimum up to 17 years, 4 months and 1 day, maximum (People vs Medina, G.R. 113691, February 6, 1998)

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