AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES: Dwelling and Treachery

AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES

Dwelling –– Aggravates a felony where the crime is committed in the dwelling of the offended party provided that the latter has not given provocation therefor; in robbery with violence and intimidation against persons, dwelling is aggravating because in this class of robbery, the crime may be committed without the necessity of trespassing the sanctity of the offended party’s house; it is considered an aggravating circumstance primarily because of the sanctity of privacy that the law accords to the human abode. (People vs. Bringcula, G.R. No. 226400, Jan. 24, 2018)

Treachery –– For treachery to be appreciated, the concurrence of two conditions must be established: first, the employment of means of execution that gives the person attacked no opportunity to defend himself or to retaliate; and second, the means of execution was deliberately or consciously adopted; in order to qualify the killing as murder, treachery must be proved by clear and convincing evidence or as conclusively as the killing itself; the presence of treachery cannot be presumed. (People vs. Panerio, G.R. No. 205440, Jan. 15, 2018)

––      Present when the offender commits any of the crimes against persons, employing means, methods or forms in its execution, tending directly and specially to insure its execution without risk to himself arising from the defense which the offended party might make. (People vs. Panerio, G.R. No. 205440, Jan. 15, 2018)

Source: Supreme Court of the Philippines