Case Digests in Criminal Law 1 REITERATION or HABITUALITY by James Castro PEOPLE VS BALDOGO G.R. No.

129106-07 FACTS: The accused Gonzalo Baldogo and Edgar Bermas who were both serving time for the crime Murder at the Iwahig Penal Colony, were employed as domestic helpers by Julio Camacho Sr. One evening while their master was away, they killed his son Jorge and kidnapped his daughter Julie whom they took to the mountains and detained her for more than five days, contrary to law and attended by the aggravating circumstance of Recidivism. Upon arraignment, the accused Baldogo pleaded not guilty. Bermas on the other hand died before he could be arraigned. ISSUE(S)/DEFENSE OF THE ACCUSED: The burden of proof lies in the prosecution to prove the aggravating circumstance of quasirecidivism by the same quantum of evidence as the crime itself. RULING: The prosecution adduced in evidence merely the excerpt of the prison record of accused-appellant showing that he was convicted of Homicide by the Regional Trial Court of Baguio City with a penalty which he was serving at the Iwahig Penal Colony. The excerpt of the prison record is not the best evidence under Section 3, Rule 130 of the Revised Rules of Court, to prove the judgment of the Regional Trial Court of Baguio City and to prove that said judgment had become final and executor. Said excerpt is merely secondary or substitutionary evidence which is inadmissible, absent proof that the original of the judgment had been lost or destroyed or that the same cannot be produced without the fault of the prosecution. Therefore the aggravating circumstance of quasi-recidivism cannot be appreciated in this case.