Rodrigo Agsunod Jr. and five companions armed with rifles went to the house of Rodolfo Sebastian, a barangay councilman. When Sebastian arrived, Agsunod fired and killed him. Agsunod argued the corpus delicti was not proven as the death certificate only proved death, not the cause. However, the court ruled the corpus delicti was proven as the death certificate listed the cause of death as "shock, multiple gunshot wounds" consistent with witness testimony and circumstances of the killing. Corpus delicti means the fact of a specific injury or loss, and in murder the fact of death, which can be proven by eyewitnesses even without recovering the body.
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Rodrigo Agsunod Jr. and five companions armed with rifles went to the house of Rodolfo Sebastian, a barangay councilman. When Sebastian arrived, Agsunod fired and killed him. Agsunod argued the corpus delicti was not proven as the death certificate only proved death, not the cause. However, the court ruled the corpus delicti was proven as the death certificate listed the cause of death as "shock, multiple gunshot wounds" consistent with witness testimony and circumstances of the killing. Corpus delicti means the fact of a specific injury or loss, and in murder the fact of death, which can be proven by eyewitnesses even without recovering the body.
Rodrigo Agsunod Jr. and five companions armed with rifles went to the house of Rodolfo Sebastian, a barangay councilman. When Sebastian arrived, Agsunod fired and killed him. Agsunod argued the corpus delicti was not proven as the death certificate only proved death, not the cause. However, the court ruled the corpus delicti was proven as the death certificate listed the cause of death as "shock, multiple gunshot wounds" consistent with witness testimony and circumstances of the killing. Corpus delicti means the fact of a specific injury or loss, and in murder the fact of death, which can be proven by eyewitnesses even without recovering the body.
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Rodrigo Agsunod Jr. and five companions armed with rifles went to the house of Rodolfo Sebastian, a barangay councilman. When Sebastian arrived, Agsunod fired and killed him. Agsunod argued the corpus delicti was not proven as the death certificate only proved death, not the cause. However, the court ruled the corpus delicti was proven as the death certificate listed the cause of death as "shock, multiple gunshot wounds" consistent with witness testimony and circumstances of the killing. Corpus delicti means the fact of a specific injury or loss, and in murder the fact of death, which can be proven by eyewitnesses even without recovering the body.
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PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs. RODRIGO AGSUNOD, JR. y BIBAY G.R. No.
118331 May 3, 1999
Facts:
At about 6 o'clock in the evening of July 7, 1992, appellant Rodrigo Agsunod, Jr. his five (5) companions, who wore fatigue uniforms and were armed with the armalite rifles, arrived at the house of Rodolfo Sebastian, a barangay councilman, in Barangay Parug-Parug, Solana, Cagayan. Sebastian’s son Raymundo informed them that his father was not yet at home. After waiting for a while, Agsunod and two of his companions went to the house of ex Barangay Captain Evaristo Julian. Agsunod and company seized the .22 calibre rifle of Julian and went back to the house of Sebastian. Upon seeing Rodolfo in the yard with the 3 companions, Agsunod instantly fired the rifle grazing the victim’s shoulder and others also fired at Rodolfo killing him on the spot.
Agsunod argues that the corpus delicti was not proven because while the Death Certificate of Rodolfo Sebastian was presented in evidence, appellant contends that this merely proved the fact of death, not the cause of death of the victim.
Ruling:
The Certificate of Death of Rodolfo D. Sebastian indicates the cause of death as
"shock, multiple gunshot wounds on the body" which is consistent with the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and the circumstances attending the killing of the victim. In this case, the corpus delicti was duly proven. Corpus delicti means the fact of a specific injury or loss sustained; and in murder, the fact of death is the corpus delicti. Corpus delicti is the fact of the commission of the crime which may be proved by the testimony of eyewitnesses who saw it. It has even been held that "in a case of murder or homicide, it is not necessary to recover the body or to show where it can be found. There are cases like death at sea, where the finding or recovery of the body is impossible. It is enough that the death and the criminal agency causing it be proven, to satisfy the requirement of corpus delicti.
