A conviction based on circumstantial evidence must exclude the possibility that some other person committed the crime.

This was the ruling of the Supreme Court's Third Division, penned by Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan granting the petition for review on certiorari filed by Julius Enrico Tijam and Kenneth Bacsid.

The two accused petitioned the SC to challenge the rulings of the Court of Appeals which had affirmed the findings of the Regional Trial Court convicting them for Theft.

They were charged in 2017 following allegations made by Kim Mugot that on 18 August 2017, while rushing inside a bus along with other commuters, Mugot was suddenly pinned against the bus door by Bacsid and that shortly after, Mugot noticed his Samsung Galaxy A7 cellphone missing from his right pocket.

This prompted Mugot to alight the bus and look for Bacsid, whom he found in the bus unloading area receiving the cell phone from Tijam. Mugot then yelled, "Magnanakaw!" and a struggle ensued between them, causing the cell phone to fall on the ground, damaged.

However, the two were accused of taking Mugot's cellphone and according to Tijam, he was on his way home when he met Bacsid at the bus waiting area, and while exchanging pleasantries, Tijam saw a cellphone on the ground and picked it up and showed it to Bacsid. When Mugot emerged and grabbed the cellphone, it fell on the ground.