Road rage

In the kind of traffic we have especially in Metro Manila, incidents of road rage are bound to happen because of lack of patience. This is illustrated in this case between two motorists during one of the busiest days of the year, particularly the celebration of All Saints’ Day.

The motorists here are Emman who used to work as an OFW and Javier a businessman. Emman is married to Cecille, a registered nurse who temporarily stopped working because of pregnancy although they planned to work in Saudi Arabia after Cecille has given birth.

The incident occurred at a Memorial Park on the eve of All Saints’ Day at about 2:30 p.m. when traffic was already heavy inside the park. Both Emman and Javier were already on their way to the exit of the Park riding their respective vehicles. Emman was driving an FX together with Cecille and son Andrew, nephew Kurt and sister in law, Joy. Cecille was seated at the right front passenger seat while the boys and Joy were seated at the middle row behind the driver’s seat. Javier, on the other hand was driving a late model automobile sedan with his grandson and three housemaids.

At the intersection inside the park, while Javier was turning left toward the exit and Emman  was headed straight toward the exit, their two vehicles almost collided. Emman was able to step on the brakes as Javier continued driving along his way. Emman followed him behind for some time and cut him off when he found the opportunity to do so. Then he got out of his vehicle and knocked on Javier’s car window. A few seconds thereafter, the shooting incident that led to the eventual death of the pregnant Cecille and injuries to Andrew and Kurt, happened.

The versions of Emman and Javier differ as to the incidents immediately preceding the shooting incident. While Emman stated in court that he calmly told Javier to be careful in driving and denied that he was mad when he alighted from his vehicle, eyewitnesses to the incident including two prosecution witnesses uniformly testified that Emman quarreled with or shouted and cursed Javier for the latter’s recklessness at the intersection. Emman’s hostile behavior toward Javier is evident from his testimony in court that he noticed Javier turning red in anger. It is highly improbable for Javier to have turned red in anger had Emman been polite as he claimed he was in scolding Javier.

Emman then said that when he noticed Javier’s infuriation, he immediately walked toward his vehicle because according to him the altercation was over. And on his way he met another man who turned out to be Ted, the son of Dino driving another car. A shouting match then ensued between Ted and Emman that prompted Javier to alight from his car with a Glock 9mm automatic pistol in his hand and fired a single shot at the last window on the left side of Emman’s vehicle. The single bullet hit Cecille on the forehead near the temporal region above the left eye and the two children with metallic fragments of the bullet on their faces. Cecille died the following morning after giving birth by caesarian section.

Javier was thereafter charged for the complex crime of murder, double frustrated murder and attempted murder. After trial the lower court found Javier guilty as charged because the shooting was attended by treachery and sentenced him to death by lethal injection which was then still allowed by law. The lower court also ordered him to pay P50,000 civil indemnity; P3.3 million loss of earning capacity of Cecille; P98,000 funeral expenses; P340,000 hospital expenses, P150,000 moral damages, P50,000 attorneys fees and cost of suit.

On appeal by Javier, the Supreme Court (SC) modified the lower court decision. Javier is guilty of homicide only for the death of Cecille and is sentenced to eight years and one day as minimum to 14 years, eight months and one day as maximum. And for each count of slight physical injuries on Andrew and Kurt Javier is sentenced to 20 days imprisonment. All the pecuniary awards are affirmed,

The SC ruled that the shooting was not attended by treachery. The encounter between Emman and Javier was a chance encounter. They were total strangers before their vehicles almost collided at an intersection inside the Memorial Park. Chance encounters, impulse killing or crimes committed at the spur of the moment or preceded by heated altercations are generally not attended by treachery for lack of opportunity of the accused to deliberately employ a treacherous mode of attack. Thus the sudden attack by Javier due to his infuriation by reason of Emman’s provocation is without treachery. Sudden attacks made by the accused preceded by curses and insults by the victims or acts taunting the accused to retaliate are without treachery as the victim or his companions were sufficiently forewarned of reprisal.

Furthermore the pictures of the FX show that it’s other passengers were not visible from the outside. While Javier admitted Emman’s mentioning to him that he has passengers in the SUV while he was shouting and cursing him, there is no opportunity for Javier to see the passengers when he fired the shot; that he deliberately employed a mode of attack to gain undue advantage over the intended or the actual victim. So there is no treachery and the crime committed is only homicide (People vs Gonzales, Jr. , G.R. 139542, June 21, 2001)

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