Lawyers in Erap trial warned against putting Sandiganbayan in bad light

Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro warned defense lawyers in the plunder trial against ousted President Joseph Estrada yesterday against issuing statements that may put the court in a bad light.

De Castro, also special division chairwoman, reminded the defense and prosecution lawyers that they have the responsibility to project the court’s good image by not trading unnecessary statements against each other in open court.

"We should put all these (unnecessary statements) behind us," she said.

"We should show to the public that we have respect for each other. We must act in a professional manner so we could earn the respect and gratitude of the public," she added.

De Castro issued the warning to end the verbal tussle between Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio and retired Manila fiscal Jose Flaminiano, Estrada’s co-lead counsel.

It started when Flaminiano cried foul after prosecutors accused defense lawyers of trying to preempt the court’s resolution on one of their motions.

In a radio interview, Flaminiano described a statement made by prosecutors about the possibility of Estrada spending Christmas at his home on Polk street in North Greenhills, San Juan as "callous opportunism."

In that interview, Flaminiano reportedly said there would be no need to ask the court to grant Estrada a Christmas furlough if the court would approve his earlier motion to transfer him to his residence in San Juan.

Villa-Ignacio alleged that Flaminiano’s statements tend to influence any resolution that the court would issue.

Instead of getting sympathy from the court, Villa-Ignacio found himself the subject of De Castro’s ire.

De Castro told Villa-Ignacio there had been other incidents in which the justices felt they were being pressured by the prosecution.

She cited Villa-Ignacio’s earlier statement to reporters that he would resign should the court order Estrada’s release on recognizance.

"We felt then that we were being threatened, but we ignored it completely," De Castro said.

"You should avoid threatening the court, but we want you to know that we are not threatened. We are not using it against you because we decide the case the way it should be decided," she said.

Villa-Ignacio apologized for "unwittingly pressuring" the court, saying that his threat to resign was directed to the people who advocated Estrada’s release on recognizance.

While De Castro accepted Villa-Ignacio’s apology, she reminded him and Estrada’s lawyers to refrain from making unnecessary statements in open court and before the press.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the defense presented former National Power Corp. director Carmelo Santiago to testify that Estrada never resigned when he left Malacañang on Jan. 20, 2001.

He said he was in Malacañang hours before Estrada left the Palace.

Estrada had also refused an offer for him to go into exile, he added.

Estrada’s lawyers presented Santiago to help bolster the defense argument that the ousted president was prematurely stripped of his immunity from suit.

Villa-Ignacio dismissed Santiago’s testimony as irrelevant and immaterial.

The Sandiganbayan special division is trying the plunder and perjury cases against Estrada. — Mike Frialde