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PEOPLE v DE VERA
Facts: That on or about the 8th day of June, 1992, in
Quezon City, Philippines, the said accused,
conspiring [and] confederating [with] and helping . . .
two (2) other persons, did then and there wilfully,
unlawfully and feloniously with intent to kill, with
evident premeditation, treachery and use of superior
strength, attack, assault and employ personal violence
upon the person of one FREDERICK CAPULONG y
DIZON, by then and there shooting him with the use
of a .22 cal. with trade mark 'Paspar Armas' bearing
SN-29069 with five (5) pieces of caliber 22 ammo
inside, hitting him between his eyes and striking him
with the use of a baseball bat in the mouth, thereby
inflicting upon him serious and mortal wounds which
were the direct and immediate cause of his untimely
death, to the damage and prejudice of the heirs of the
said Frederick Capulong y Dizon."
Version of Prosecution
As explained by eyewitness Bernardo Cacao, while
bringing out the garbage, the witness saw a car
passing by, driven by victim Frederick Capulong
together with four (4) other passengers. He knew the
victim by name who was a resident of the
subdivision. He recognized and identified two of the
passengers as Kenneth Florendo and Roderick
Garcia, both familiar in the subdivision. "Cacao did
not at first notice anything unusual inside the car
while it passed by him, but then he heard
unintelligible voices coming from the car as it was
cruising around Denver Loop Street, a circular road
whose entrance and exit were through the same point
His curiosity taking [the] better part of him, Cacao
walked to the opposite side of the road from where he
saw the car already parked. Moments later, he saw
the victim dragged out of the car by Florendo and
brought to a grassy place. Florendo was holding a
gun (ibid, p. 13). Upon reaching the grassy spot,
Florendo aimed and fired the gun at the victim,
hitting him between the eyes. After the shooting,
Florendo and his companions fled in different
directions. "When he submitted a sworn statement to
the investigating prosecutor, Cacao attached a sketch
of the crime scene prepared by police officers,
indicating therein his relative position at the time of
the incident. While testifying in court, Cacao
identified Garcia and pointed to appellant as among
the companions of Florendo.
Held: Yes.
When there is nothing in the records which would
show a motive or reason on the part of the witnesses
to falsely implicate the accused, identification should
be given full credit. And when there is no evidence
and nothing to indicate that the principal witness for
the prosecution was moved by improper motives, the
presumption is that he was not so moved, and his
testimony is entitled to full faith and credit.
In an attempt to disprove the findings of the trial
court, appellant points to certain inconsistencies that
allegedly render the testimonies of the prosecution
witnesses incredible. These inconsistencies, however,
are not so substantial as to destroy their credibility.
As correctly explained by the People, the seeming
contradictions and minor inconsistencies in the
testimonies of the prosecution witness pointed out by
the appellants in their brief are mere inconsequential
variations on the part of each observer in relating his
own observation of the same incident. Contradictions
and inconsistencies of witnesses in regard to the
details of an incident far from demonstrating
falsehood constitute evidence of good faith. Not all
persons who witness an incident are impressed by it
in the same manner and it is but natural that said
eyewitnesses should disagree on minor details.
In fact, inconsistencies and contradictions in the
testimony of the prosecution witnesses which refer to
minor details cannot destroy the credibility of the
prosecution witnesses. And where the prosecution
witnesses were able to positively identify the
appellants as the authors of the crime and the
testimonies were, on the whole, consistent on
material points, the contradictions become
insignificant