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Sunday, October 02, 2005
Cebu lawyer sues 'abusive' judge
By Karlon N. Rama
CEBU CITY -- A Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge is facing an administrative complaint for berating a pregnant lady lawyer. Her "mistake": She failed to call him "Your honor."
Private prosecutor Maria Dolores Carpofora de la Serna-Unchuan filed the complaint against the judge before the Office of the Court Administrator Saturday.
Sun.Star Cebu is withholding the name of the judge, pursuant to a Supreme Court (SC) memorandum disallowing the publication of administrative complaints against judges before these are evaluated and given due course.
This is not the first time a complaint has been filed against the same judge. The High Tribunal earlier admonished him for a complaint filed by lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu.
Unchuan, a daughter of former Cebu governor Vicente "Tingting" de la Serna, believes the animosity brought against her by the judge is because he knows she and Dalawampu collaborate on certain cases.
Unchuan wants him found in violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct and to face the maximum penalty for conduct unbecoming of a judge, serious or gross misconduct, abuse of power and gross ignorance of the law.
Rule 3.04 of their code states: "A judge should be patient, attentive and courteous to lawyers, especially the inexperienced, to litigants, witnesses, and others appearing before the court. A judge should avoid unconsciously falling into the attitude of mind that the litigants are made for the courts, instead of the courts for the litigants."
'Judge'
In her complaint, she narrated that she appeared before the judge's sala last Sept. 21, 2005 to attend the pre-trial conference of a case.
Unchuan said the proceedings was about to be concluded, in fact the parties were already preparing to leave so that the next item on that day's court calendar could be called, when the magistrate "lambasted" her for calling him "Judge."
The judge, whom she described as having been "riled up," accused her of trying to "provoke him, manipulating him in such a way that he'd slip and give her grounds to seek his inhibition on the case."
She said she repeatedly apologized but the judge threatened that he'd cite her in contempt the next time she addresses him merely as "Judge."
"With all due respect, the undersigned feels that the outbursts of the judge were improper, unreasonable, petty and uncalled for and a plain (exhibition) of judicial tyranny and pettiness, in violation of his responsibility to always observe courtesy and civility," Unchuan said in her complaint.
Bothered
"The unjustness greatly bothered the undersigned and caused her undue stress, humiliation and embarrassment, which adversely affected her pregnant condition," she added.
This was not the first time, Unchuan said, that the judge treated her in such a way.
In the same complaint, she related that she appeared before the judge's sala last June 30, 2003 for a rape case. She was the private prosecutor.
The defense lawyer had asked the complainant if she had ever undergone abortion. Unchuan objected, on the grounds that the question violated her client's right against self-incrimination.
The judge denied the objection because the witness was the complainant and not the respondent, so there was no risk of self-incrimination in answering the question.
Unchuan, however, argued further by maintaining that while it did not jeopardize the position of the complainant, it opened her to the possibility of incriminating herself in another crime-abortion.
'Capricious'
She got warned she could be cited in contempt for her efforts.
"The complainant (Unchuan) hereby maintains that the warning of contempt on this occasion was issued unreasonably, improperly, capriciously and without basis and in grave abuse of the power of contempt, as the undersigned was only defending her position and being faithful to her duty to protect her client's rights," Unchuan said in her complaint to the court administrator.
Other lawyers, she pointed out, have had similar encounters with the judge, one of them a practitioner in his 70s.
Unchuan said that a group of 16 lawyers signed a letter-petition against the judge, reporting his use of "offensive comments and use of gutter language in open court and his regular and habitual behavior of insulting lawyers in front of clients, party litigants and witnesses." (Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
(October 2, 2005 issue)
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