GR 36621; (February, 1933) (Digest)
G.R. No. 36621 ; February 25, 1933
ALIPIO DAIS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JOSE Y. TORRES and LEONA IBAÑEZ, the latter substituted by her administrator ALFONSO DADIVAS, defendants. ALFONSO DADIVAS, appellant.
FACTS
Plaintiff Alipio Dais filed a complaint alleging that his attorney, defendant Jose Y. Torres, fraudulently induced him to sign a document that turned out to be a sale with right of repurchase of his land in favor of Torres’s mother-in-law, Leona Ibañez, for P10,000, which sum Dais claims he never received. Ibañez, in her answer and cross-complaint, asserted the validity of the sale and sought damages after Dais failed to repurchase and later deprived her of possession. The trial court rendered a decision in favor of Dais, declaring the sale document null and void, ordering the cancellation of its annotation, and awarding Dais damages. Defendant Alfonso Dadivas, as administrator of Ibañez’s estate, appealed. During the trial, defendant Torres filed a motion for recusation against Judge Garduño, citing the judge’s alleged bias and hostility due to prior administrative complaints Torres had filed against him. Judge Garduño denied the motion and proceeded with the case.
ISSUE
Whether the trial judge’s denial of the motion for recusation, given the circumstances alleging bias and prejudice, warrants the setting aside of the judgment and the ordering of a new trial.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court set aside the decision as to appellant Dadivas and ordered a new trial before another judge. The Court held that the administration of justice requires not only actual impartiality but also the appearance of impartiality to maintain public confidence in the judiciary. Given the circumstances, including the prior complaints by Torres against the judge and the allegations of public hostility, the Court could not be assured that the trial judge’s findings of fact—which were crucial as the case turned on witness credibility—were free from bias or prejudice. In the interest of justice, a new trial was necessary.
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