Supreme Court rejects appeal of dismissed appellate justice

The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of dismissed Court of Appeals Justice Demetrio Demetria who was found administratively liable last March 27 for interceding in behalf of a suspected drug lord.

In a nine-page resolution, the Supreme Court justices said they have full faith in the investigation conducted by retired Justice Carolina Griño-Aquino into Demetria’s indiscretion by pressuring a fiscal to go slow on a female accused in a drug case.

"We accord weight and the highest respect to the evaluation of Justice Griño-Aquino, a retired but well-respected member of this Court, as her assessment and appreciation of the evidence are quite competent and convincing," they declared in its resolution.

"Absent any showing of bias, partiality, flaw or grave abuse of discretion, we shall not disturb her findings," the decision read.

The High Court gave weight to the testimony of state prosecutor Pablo Formaran III that Demetria and sports patron Go Teng Kok, along with lawyer Reinerio Paas, visited his office at the Department of Justice in July last year to convince him to withdraw his motion to inhibit dismissed Manila Judge Manuel Muro from handling the drug case of Yu Yuk Lai.

The High Court also denied Demetria’s request to reduce the "harsh" penalty against him since a "reprimand is appropriate," saying his defense was just "unsubstantiated denial" which was a "negative self-serving assertion which deserves no weight in law."

"As a member then of the judiciary, he should not act as lawyer for an accused. Neither should he teach the prosecutor what to do. He should refrain from getting himself involved in the prosecution of any case which may later be appealed to his court," the High Court said.

While the Supreme Court agreed that proof beyond reasonable doubt is needed for the sanction on Demetria, it clarified that "it does not mean such absolute certainty as to exclude the possibility of error."

"Only moral certainty is required, or that degree of proof which produces conviction in an unprejudiced mind. In the instant case, we believe that that requisite degree of proof has been met," the High Court said.

Demetria’s dismissal was a first in the Court of Appeals’ 65 years of existence. He was fired for violating the Code of Judicial Conduct. He was perpetually barred from holding any public office.