4 Phil. 439
[ G.R. No. 1773. April 19, 1905 ]
THE UNITED STATES, COMPLAINANT AND APPELLEE, VS. HILARIO SANTIAGO ET AL., DEFENDANTS AND APPELLANTS.
D E C I S I O N
ARELLANO, C.J.:
The detective who made the arrest testified that he had received information when he went to Caloocan that there were some gambling houses, one of which was that of Hilario Santiago, for which reason he gave orders to his men to proceed against said gambling house. This witness had captured on one occasion nineteen or twenty persons gambling at monte. This testimony being hearsay, in itself it is insufficient, and much more so to prove the essential element of the crime, which is the habit or the maintenance of gambling in a certain house, and, therefore, we do not think that the complaint has been sufficiently proven.
Therefore we acquit the appellants, Hilario Santiago, Simeon Rafael, and Hugo Francisco, with the costs in both instances de oficio. So ordered.
Torres, Mapa, Johnson, and Carson, JJ., concur.
Date created: May 09, 2014
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