People v. Lozada
People v. Lozada
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Facundo Lozada was charged with murder in the second degree in that he killed Fermín González, by inflicting on him several wounds with a machete under circumstances showing that he had a perverse and malignant heart.
The case was tried to a jury who convicted him of voluntary manslaughter and the court sentenced him to three years in the penitentiary. He' has taken this appeal on the sole ground that the verdict is contrary to the evidence which, the appellant believes, proved a case of self-defense that exempts him from liability.
The evidence submitted by the prosecution at the trial consisted of the testimony of three witnesses and a medical expert. The defendant offered no evidence.
According to the statement of the case that we have before us, witness Faustino Rivera Molina testified under oath as follows: “That on the morning of January 4, 1926, in the ward of Jácana. of Yabueoa, Facundo Lozada was visiting in his house when Fermín González arrived and entered the house with a spur in his hand and attacked Facundo with the spur; that Facundo dodged the blows and pushed Fermín who fell to the floor; that Facundo ran down to the door as If to leave, but Fermín followed him to the door striking him from behind with the spur; that Facundo was receding and approached the door of the house where a machete was hanging against the wall; that Facundo grabbed it and used it as a defense against the blows which Fermín was striking at him with the spur; that Facundo wounded Fermín every time that Fermín rushed at him, and said to him: ‘For God’s sake be quiet.’ ” Cruz Rivera Medina’s testimony was about the same as that of the preceding witness, with the only difference that he said that when Fermín fell to the floor upon being pushed by Facundo the latter succeeded in throwing him down to the yard. The other witness, the municipal judge, testified only that Facundo
It appears from the testimony of the medical expert that the body of Fermín González bore thirteen wounds which he described, some of them being as follows: An incised wound about four centimeters long strihing the bone of the parietal region, serious; another similar wound in the occipital region presenting erosions in the frontal region and in the left parietal region with complete division of the ear; another superficial incised wound about six centimeters long extending from the angle of the left eye to the left angle of the mouth; another deep wound about six centimeters long in. the infra-scapular region of the back between the shoulder-blades; another in the right forearm about five centimeters long towards the internal side of the right forearm cutting into the muscles; another wound in the upper part of the left forearm about three inches below the elbow extending towards the interior and posterior parts of the forearm, cutting into the bone and severing the arteries; the most serious wound having been inflicted in the right arm, about ten centimeters long from three inches below the elbow in its internal part and reaching the upper part thereof through the skin, the muscles and severing the artery, the urnal vein and the cubit bone, causing a copious hemorrhage and the death of Fermín González.
The right of self-defense, according to section 54 of the Penal Code, in no case extends to the infliction of more harm than is necessary for the purpose of defense, and the circumstances must be such as to induce the mind of a reasonably prudent person to entertain the belief that the defendant was in peril of his life or great bodily harm; reasonable fear not meaning the fear of a coward but the fear of a reasonably courageous man. With these rules to guide us we shall consider the evidence.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.