Premeditation, to be aggravating, must be "evident"

To consider evident premeditation, it is necessary that the following requisites be met: (a) the time when the accused determined to commit the crime; (b) an act manifestly indicating that the accused clung to his determination; and (c) a lapse of time, between the determination to commit the crime and the execution thereof, sufficient to allow him to reflect upon the consequences of his act.

In the present case, no evidence was presented by the prosecution as to when and how appellant planned and prepared for the killing of the victim. There is no showing of any notorious act evidencing a determination to commit the crime which could prove appellant’s criminal intent. Hence, we cannot agree that there was evident premeditation here, on appellant’s part. (People vs. Comadre, G.R. No. 153559, 08 June 2004, 431 SCRA 366)