U.S. vs. AH CHONG [15 Phil.

488 (1910)]

Facts: Ah Chong was a cook in Ft. McKinley. Because of robberies happening at Fort McKinley, Ah Chong slept with a knife under his pillow. One night, before going to bed, he locked himself in his room by placing a chair against the door. After having gone to bed, he was awakened by someone trying to open the door. He called out twice, Who is there, but received no answer. Fearing that the intruder was a robber, he leaped from his bed & called out again, If you enter the room I will kill you. But at that precise moment, he was struck by the chair that had been placed against the door, & believing that he was being attacked he seized a kitchen knife and struck and fatally wounded the intruder who turned out to be his roommate.

Issue: Whether or not there was mistake of fact which will relieve Ah Chong from liability.

Held: YES. There was mistake of fact in the case at bar. The Supreme Court was convinced that the defendant struck the fatal blow alleged in the firm belief that the intruder who forced open the door of his sleeping room was a thief, from whose assault he was in imminent peril. The defendant acted in good faith, without malice, or criminal intent, in the belief that he was doing no more than exercising his legitimate right of self-defense; that had the facts been as he believed them to be he would have been wholly exempt from criminal liability on account of his act and that he cannot be said to have been guilty of negligence or recklessness or even carelessness in falling into his mistake as to the facts, or in the means adopted by him to defend himself from the imminent danger which he believe threatened his person and his property and the property under his charge. All requisites of mistake of fact as a defense are present which made his acts to defend himself justifiable. Ah Chong must be acquitted.