People of the Philippines v. Franco De Guzman G.R. No. 179477.

February 4, 2009

Facts The appellant, Franco De Guzman, has been previously convicted for the murder of one Dr. Fidelito Manaois. According to Armano Nipales, a pedicab driver who was a witness to the crime, in the evening of said crime, he overheard a cell phone conversation of the appellant, where a plan to execute somebody was exposed. On the same evening, while on board a motorcycle, appellant fired shots at the motorcycle where the victim was on board. The shots resulted to the falling of the motorcycle. There upon, De Guzman came over the said motorcycle and shot the victim several times more, which resulted to his death. The courts then convicted the accused of murder aggravated by the circumstances of treachery and evident premeditation. Issue Whether or not the aggravating circumstance of evident premeditation should be appreciated against the appellant. Held For evident premeditation to be appreciated, the following elements must be proven: (a) the time when the offender determined to commit the crime; (b) an act manifestly indicating that the accused clung to his determination; and (c) a sufficient lapse of time between the determination and execution to allow him to reflect on the consequences of his actions. In the case at bar, the appellants plan to commit the crime was overheard during a cell phone conversation. Later that same night he shot and killed the victim. There was no sufficient time for the appellant to have reflected on the consequences of his actions and to have clung to his determination to kill the victim. Evident premeditation was therefore proven not to have attended the killing.