Pomoy V People

POMOY v.
PEOPLE
ROWENO POMOY, petitioner
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent

Facts:
--1990- Policemen arrested Tomas Balboa, a master teacher of the Concepcion College of Science and
Fisheries in Concepcion, Iloilo, for he was allegedly connected with a robbery. He was brought to the
Headquarters of the Philippine Constabulary Company at Camp Jalandoni in Iloilo where he was detained.
Roweno Pomoy, a member of the Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company, directed the latter to come out, for
tactical interrogation at the investigation room. Petitioner had a gun hanging from his bolster. After that, 2
gunshots were heard. Petitioner was seen holding his .45 caliber pistol facing Balboa who was lying in a pool
of blood. Balboa died.

--Version of the Defense: (presented 2 witnesses + accused Pomoy)
Self-defense: Balboa allegedly tried to grab the handle of Pomoys gun. Balboa was not able to take actual hold
of the gun because of his efforts in preventing him. He and Balboa grappled in taking control of his gun.
Balboa was accidentally shot.

--RTC of Iloilo City found Pomoy guilty of the crime of homicide.
--CA modified the RTC decision (removed aggravating circumstance of abuse of public position) stating that
1) the victim was not successful in his attempts to grab the gun, since petitioner had been in control of the
weapon when the shots were fired; 2) the gun had been locked prior to the alleged grabbing incident and
immediately before it went off; it was petitioner who released the safety lock before he deliberately fired the
fatal shots; and 3) the location of the wounds found on the body of the deceased did not support the assertion
of petitioner that there had been a grappling for the gun. Thus, there is no unlawful aggression on the part of
the deceased to justify self-defense.

Issue
WON the shooting of Tomas Balboa was the result of an accident in his fulfillment of duty- YES. It was in the
lawful performance of his duty as a law enforcer that petitioner tried to defend his possession of the weapon
when the victim suddenly tried to remove it from his holster.

Dispositive:
Petition is granted and the assailed decision REVERSED. Petitioner is ACQUITTED.

Ratio:
Article 12. Circumstances which exempt from criminal liability. The following are exempt from criminal
liability:4. Any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes an injury by mere accident
without fault or intent of causing it.

Exemption from criminal liability proceeds from a finding that the harm to the victim was not due to the fault
or negligence of the accused, but to circumstances that could not have been foreseen or controlled. Thus, in
determining whether an accident attended the incident, courts must take into account the dual standards of
lack of intent to kill and absence of fault or negligence. This determination inevitably brings to the fore the
main question in the present case: was petitioner in control of the .45 caliber pistol at the very moment the
shots were fired? YES. that petitioner did not have control of the gun during the scuffle. The deceased
persistently attempted to wrest the weapon from him, while he resolutely tried to thwart those attempts.

Elements of Accident:
1) the accused was at the time performing a lawful act with due care;
2) the resulting injury was caused by mere accident; and
3) on the part of the accused, there was no fault or no intent to cause the injury

All these elements were present in this case.
--At the time of the incident, Pomoy was a member -- specifically, one of the investigators of the Philippine
National Police (PNP) stationed at the Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company. Thus, it was in the lawful
performance of his duties as investigating officer that, under the instructions of his superior, he fetched the
victim from the latters cell for a routine interrogation. It was in the lawful performance of his duty as a law
enforcer that petitioner tried to defend his possession of the weapon when the victim suddenly tried to
remove it from his holster. He was duty-bound to prevent the snatching of his service weapon by anyone,
especially by a detained person in his custody. Such weapon was likely to be used to facilitate escape and to
kill or maim persons in the vicinity, including petitioner himself.
--Petitioner cannot be faulted for negligence. He exercised all the necessary precautions to prevent his
service weapon from causing accidental harm to others. As he so assiduously maintained, he had kept his
service gun locked when he left his house; he kept it inside its holster at all times, especially within the
premises of his working area
--The participation of petitioner, if any, in the victims death was limited only to acts committed in the course
of the lawful performance of his duties as an enforcer of the law. The removal of the gun from its holster, the
release of the safety lock, and the firing of the two successive shots -- all of which led to the death of the victim
were sufficiently demonstrated to have been consequences of circumstances beyond the control of petitioner.

Petitioner advanced self-defense as an alternative. Granting arguendo that he intentionally shot Balboa, he
claims he did so to protect his life and limb from real and immediate danger.

Sandoval-Gutierrez, Corona, and Carpio Morales, JJ., concur.

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