10/4/23, 12:36 AM PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 055
[No. 33877. February 6, 1931]
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff
and appellee, vs, JUAN N. GIMENA, defendant and
appellant.
CRIMINAL LAW; PARRICIDE; SOMNAMBULISM AS
DEFENSE.—The defense that the offense charged was
committed by the accused during the prevalence of, or in a
state of, somnambulism is not well taken by this court other
than that embraced in a plea of insanity.
APPEAL from a judgment of the Court of First Instance of
Cebu. Borromeo Veloso, J.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
C. de G'. Alvear for appellant.
Attorney-General Jaranilla for appellee.
OSTRAND, J.:
The defendant Juan N. Gimena is charged with the crime
of parricide. It appears from the evidence that on the
morning of April 9, 1930, in the municipality of Ronda,
605
VOL. 55, FEBRUARY 6, 1931 605
People vs. Gimena
Province of Cebu, the defendant helped his father-in-law,
Gregorio Diana, in cleaning bamboo. After having finished
the cleaning he went home and upon arriving there he
found his wife Crispina Diana and a child 2 weeks of age
sleeping together on the floor. Shortly afterwards Gregorio
Diana heard his daughter, the defendant's wife, cry for
help. He went to the defendant's house which was close to
his own and there found the defendant attacking Crispina
with a bolo. With the assistance of Teodulo Gimena, a
brother of the defendant, Gregorio succeeded in disarming
the def endant and tied him to a post of the house. The
matter was then reported to the authorities and the justice
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10/4/23, 12:36 AM PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 055
of the peace, the chief of police, a sanitary inspector and a
policeman appeared on the scene. The justice of the peace
asked the def endant why he had attacked his wife e and
received the answer that it was because she had given the
sum of P2.70 to one Apolinar Sereño whom he, the
defendant, suspected of illicit relations with the wife. A few
hours later on the same day Crispina Diana died and the
examination subsequently made disclosed ten wounds in
different parts of her body.
After trial the court below found the defendant guilty of
parricide and considering in his favor the mitigating
circumstances of obfuscation uscation and lack of
instruction, sentenced him to suffer fourteen years and
eight months and one day of cadena temporal with the
accessory penalties prescribed by law and to pay the costs.
From this judgment the defendant appealed.
The appellant's argument in his favor is that he was in a
state of somnambulism when he attacked his wife. We do
not think that this theory can serve as a defense in the
present case. By order of the trial court the defendant was
placed under observation for some time by Dr. Luis B.
Gomez, but the doctor apparently did not discover any
somnambulism on the part of the defendant. A defense of
that character must be proven and such proof is lacking in
this case.
606
606 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED
Herederos del finado Benito Lopez vs. Isabela Sugar Co.
"The defense that the offense charged was committed by the
accused during the prevalence of or in a state of somnambulism
has been recognized; but the latest holding of courts is to the
effect that it does not constitute a defense other than that
embraced in a plea of insanity." (Wharton's Criminal Law, vol. 1,
p. 574.)
We can find no error in the decision of the court below and
the appealed judgment is therefore affirmed with the costs
against the appellant. So ordered.
Johnson, Street, Malcolm, ViHamor, Johns,
Romualdez, and Villa-Real, JJ., concur.
Judgment affirmed.
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10/4/23, 12:36 AM PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 055
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