Summary: A lawyer manufactured a fake decision and bragged that she could influence the Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals for a favorable ruling.
Facts: This administrative complaint against Atty. Ramon stemmed from the joint-complaint filed by the three CA justices.
Atty. Ramon allegedly boasted to a certain Maria Rossan De Jesus that she could secure the acquittal of her cousin, Tirso Fajardo, who was charged with violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act. Atty. Ramon used the names of the three CA justices, telling them that she has “connections”. Ramon also defrauded her clients by drafting a fake decision regarding the alleged “acquittal” of Fajardo, placing the names of the complainant-CA justices in the fake decision. Through the operation of the NBI, Atty. Ramon was arrested in an entrapment operation when she received the marked money for the purported decision of acquittal.
Issue: Whether or not Atty. Ramon committed grave misconduct that warrants her disbarment.
Decision: DISBARRED. Atty. Ramon is guilty of violating the Lawyer’s Oath, Canons 1, 7, 10, and Rules 1.01, 1.02, 7.03, 10.01, 10.02, and 10.03 of the CPR and commited Grave Misconduct.
Atty. Ramon defrauded her clients by drafting a fake, spurious, and sham decision regarding the purported acquittal of Fajardo. She discredited and disrespected members of the judiciary by wrongfully involving complainants’ names in her fraudulent scheme. She also maliciously represented to her clients that she could influence Associate Justices of the CA to ensure the acquittal of an accused. Further, she exacted exorbitant fees from her clients, in the amount of P1,000,000.00 more or less, as evidenced by receipts she signed.
Atty. Ramon’s acts constitute grave misconduct. The misconduct is grave if it involves any of the additional elements of corruption, willful intent to violate the law or to disregard established rules, which must be established by substantial evidence. She had a clear intent to violate the law when she fraudulently drafted a fake decision of the CA, falsely including therein the names of complainants, and presenting it to her clients for monetary consideration.
Atty. Ramon’s acts should not just be deemed as unacceptable practices that are both disgraceful and dishonorable; these reveal a moral flaw that makes her unfit to practice law. She has tarnished the image of the legal profession and has lessened the public faith in the Judiciary. Instead of being an advocate of justice, she became a perpetrator of injustice.
Read the full case here.
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