GR L 2754; (August, 1949) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-2754; August 31, 1949
FIDEL ABRIOL, petitioner-appellant, vs. VICENTE HOMERES, Provincial Warden of Leyte, respondent-appellee.
FACTS
Petitioner Fidel Abriol was convicted for illegal possession of firearms in Criminal Case No. 1472 by the Court of First Instance of Leyte. After the prosecution rested, the defense moved to dismiss based on insufficiency of evidence. The court denied the motion. The provincial fiscal opposed any further defense evidence, citing United States vs. De la Cruz. The trial judge sustained the opposition and convicted Abriol without allowing him to present his evidence. Abriol appealed to the Court of Appeals, but his appeal was dismissed for failure to file a brief. He then filed a petition for habeas corpus, arguing his conviction was void for lack of due process. The Court of First Instance denied the petition, ruling it lacked jurisdiction to alter a final judgment.
ISSUE
Whether the denial of the accused’s right to present evidence after the denial of a motion to dismiss constitutes a denial of due process that can be remedied by habeas corpus after the judgment has become final.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court, through Justice Ozaeta, denied the petition. While the trial court’s refusal to allow the accused to present evidence was a palpable error and a denial of due process under the Constitution, such error rendered the judgment merely voidable, not void. The proper remedy was to correct the error by appeal. Since Abriol abandoned his appeal by not filing his brief and allowed the judgment to become final, he cannot use habeas corpus to correct a procedural error. Habeas corpus lies only when the judgment is void for lack of jurisdiction or when the sentence has been satisfied. Here, the trial court had jurisdiction over the subject matter and the person of the accused. The denial of the right to be heard was a procedural error within jurisdiction, correctable only by appeal. The petition was dismissed. (Justices Bengzon and Tuazon concurred in the result; Justice Reyes dissented, arguing the error was jurisdictional and the judgment void.)
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