FACTS:
Appellant was arraigned under an information charging him and four others with the crime of robbery with homicide and frustrated homicide. A few days after his arrest, he was presented to the victim for identification. After the confrontation, he was brought to Camp Crame where he wilted under interrogation and confessed his participation in the crime. He was convicted and sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua.
ISSUE(S):
Whether or not the conviction was valid.
HELD:
NO. It has been stated often enough that conviction must be based on the strength of the prosecution, and not the weakness of the defense. The obligation is upon the shoulders of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused, and not the accused to show his innocence. When, as in the case at bench, the evidence for the prosecution is not enough to sustain conviction, it must be rejected, and the accuse-appellant absolved and released at once.
Appeal is GRANTED. Conviction is REVERSED and SET ASIDE.
