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Thursday, June 09, 2005
Lawyer apologizes but insists judge was biased against clients
While a Manila-based lawyer charged with indirect contempt said he was sorry if he had offended the court, he still maintained that the court was biased against his clients.
Lawyer Benjamin A. Moraleda Jr., in a 13-page compliance to the show cause order, stood by his allegation that Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 15 Judge Fortunato A. de Gracia Jr. “acted as prosecutor” in at least three instances in the Giovannie “Nanan” Gimenez drug case.
De Gracia, who directed Moraleda to explain why he should not be cited for indirect contempt of court for accusing the judge of rigging the case, will hear Moraleda’s explanation on the charge tomorrow.
Beyond bounds
De Gracia said Moraleda’s allegations that he rigged and has a hidden agenda in the drug possession case goes beyond what is allowed in criticizing the courts.
Moraleda served as the defense lawyer of respondents Gimenez, his brother Jovan and Victor Ceniza.
“The court considers these official pleadings as a senseless affront to the integrity of the judiciary and the judicial system, when brutally fallacious premises are frankly presented in a reckless and vicious manner, accusing the presiding judge of this court of wrongdoing,” de Gracia said in his show-cause order.
Case dismissed
But a day after de Gracia had ordered Moraleda to explain why he should not be cited for indirect contempt, the judge dismissed the case against the three accused for failure of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the three accused.
In his response to the show cause order, Moraleda cited three instances de Gracia acted as prosecutor:
* When the judge admitted as evidence the drugs seized from the vehicle of Gimenez, a suspected Hong Kong Triad member;
* When de Gracia continued hearing the case, despite a ruling from Barili RTC Judge Ildefonso Suerte quashing the search warrant used by policemen against the three accused; and
* When de Gracia asked both parties to continue presenting evidence, even if the Court of Appeals had directed the local court not to admit as evidence the 337.97 grams of shabu seized inside Gimenez’s vehicle.
Four years
Gimenez and his two co-accused were arrested on Sept. 7, 2000 in Barangay Kasambagan, Cebu City aboard a van where the illegal drugs were allegedly found.
They stayed in jail for more than four years, until they were freed last week.
Moraleda said de Gracia refused to dismiss the case against his clients despite the quashal of the search warrant used in the seizure of the drugs and the appellate court’s ruling directing the lower court to considered as inadmissible the drugs.
The judge’s refusal speaks much of the judge’s alleged partiality in the case, the lawyer said. (GN)
(June 9, 2005 issue)
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