People of the Philippines vs George Daeng

G.R. No. L-34091 – 195 Phil. 719 – 49 SCRA 221 – Legal Ethics – Appointment of Counsel de Oficio

Judicial Ethics – Impartiality – Judicial Impropriety

George Daeng and three other were prisoners in the New Bilibid Prison. They were accused of killing another inmate hence they were charged with murder. The court appointed Atty. Jose Galvan as their counsel de oficio. The three initially pleaded guilty but then the trial judge wrote a letter to the three accused to conduct a “soul searching” seemingly implying that the four accused should change their plea. Ultimately, the four accused changed their plea from “not guilty” to “guilty”. They were convicted and sentenced to death.

ISSUE: Whether or not the conviction should be set aside.

HELD: Yes. The four accused were not afforded due process and their conviction is attended by dubious circumstances. A judge “must refrain from accepting with alacrity an accused’s plea of guilty, for while justice demands a speedy administration, judges are duty bound to be extra solicitous in seeing to it that when an accused pleads guilty he understands fully the meaning of his plea and the import of an inevitable conviction.”

On the other hand, the court noticed that Atty. Jose Galvan has been repeatedly assigned as counsel de oficio by the same trial judge in other cases therein. The Supreme Court cautioned against the frequent appointment of the same attorney as counsel de oficio, for two basic reasons: first, it is unfair to the attorney concerned, considering the burden of his regular practice that he should be saddled with too many de officio cases; and, second, the compensation provided for by Section 32 of Rule 138 of the Rules of Court (a fixed fee of P500 in capital offense) might be considered by some lawyers as a regular source of income, something which the Rule does not envision. In every case, the accused stands to suffer because the overburdened counsel would have too little time to spare for his de officio cases, and also would be inordinately eager to finish such cases in order to collect his fees within the earliest possible time.

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