Criminal Case Digest:PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. ROBERT BRODETT y PAJARO, appellant.

G.R. No. 170136             January 18, 2008
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. ROBERT BRODETT y PAJARO, appellant.
Criminal Case Digest
Digested Cases
Criminal Law 


Facts:
Herein appellant Robert Brodett was charged for the murder of Dr. April Duque, his live-in partner, whose body was found burning on the spillway of Laoac Alacala. The sole witness to the killing was Giobert, their five year old son, who testified in court that he saw his father hit his mother with a hammer and thereafter stab her. Appellant was found guilty and the aggravating circumstances of superior strength, dwelling, disrespect on account of sex, cruelty, and scoffing at the corpse, were considered to have attended the killing of the victim, thus the court sentenced him to death by lethal injection.

Issue:
Whether the aggravating circumstances of superior strength, dwelling, disrespect on account of sex, cruelty, and scoffing at the corpse should be considered to have attended the killing of Dr. April Duque

Ruling:
The court ruled that the killing of April was attended with treachery, because the injuries suffered by April clearly show that she did not have any chance to defend herself. The aggravating circumstance of abuse of superior strength was also appreciated but is already absorbed in treachery. Furthermore the court appreciated the aggravating circumstance of outraging or scoffing at the victim’s corpse because it was burned and left on the spillway in order to conceal the crime. The Court however did not appreciate dwelling and disrespect on account of sex because appellant and April resided in the same house and appellant did not deliberately intend to insult or disrespect April’s womanhood.


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