Case Digest (A.M. No. 96-9-332-RTC)
Facts:
The Director, PNP Narcotics Command v. Judge Jaime N. Salazar, Jr., A.M. No. 96-9-332-RTC, August 15, 2001, Supreme Court En Banc, Gonzaga-Reyes, J., writing for the Court. The complaint is an administrative charge filed by the Director of the PNP Narcotics Command against Judge Jaime N. Salazar, Jr., presiding judge of Branch 103, Regional Trial Court (Quezon City), for gross ignorance of the law and gross inefficiency in connection with Criminal Case No. Q-96-66788, People v. Felix Lasoy and Marcelo Banisa, a prosecution under Section 4, Article II of Republic Act No. 6425 (Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972).On July 16, 1996 respondent Salazar presided over the arraignment. The information, as read in court, charged the sale of "42.410 grams of dried marijuana fruiting tops." The accused initially pleaded not guilty, but after the information was reread they changed their pleas to guilty. The judge inquired of the prosecutor about the imposable penalty (six months and one day); the prosecutor interposed no objection and the judge imposed sentence that same day, ordering imprisonment of six months and one day and confiscation of the evidence. The accused filed applications for probation later that afternoon; the court gave due course to those applications two days later.
Subsequently Narcom agents discovered that the information had been tampered with: the word "kilos" had been erased and replaced with "grams," and the entry "no bail recommended" had been erased and a P60,000 bail recommendation typed in. An NBI investigation found the alteration occurred after the information had been approved and signed by the Chief Inquest Fiscal; the altered information, not the original, was raffled and transmitted to the respondent's sala. The administrative complaint did not allege respondent's complicity in the tampering but charged him with having taken cognizance and pronounced judgment despite the altered information and other documentary inconsistencies.
On March 11, 1997 the Court referred the matter to Court of Appeals Justice Conrado M. Vasquez, Jr. for Report and Recommendation. Justice Vasquez submitted his Report and Recommendation on August 10, 2000, recommending dismissal of both charges. Court Administrator Alfredo L. Benipayo, i...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was respondent Judge Jaime N. Salazar, Jr. guilty of gross inefficiency or negligence in the performance of his official duties?
- Was respondent Judge Jaime N. Salazar, Jr. guilty of gross ignorance of the law for assuming jurisdiction and rendering judgment in Criminal ...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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