Lai vs People G.R. No. 175999 [Case Digest]

 

Lai vs People

G.R. No. 175999

Facts:

            Nelson Lai was accused for the killing of one Enrico Villanueva gunned shot inside a dance hall. Nelson’s defence is a defence of alibi. RTC found the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt.  CA affirmed in toto the decision of RTC.

            In his appeal in the SC, petitioner continue to assail his conviction because he contended that he had denied due process on the ground that Judge Elumba, the trial judge, by not disqualifying himself from sitting on and trying Criminal Case No. 17446 despite having participated in the trial as the public prosecutor.

 

Issue:

            Whether or not the accused Lai was denied due process of law.

 

Held:

            Yes.

 

Ratio:

            This Court has repeatedly and consistently demanded 'the cold neutrality of an impartial judge' as the indispensable imperative of due process. To bolster that requirement, we have held that the judge must not only be impartial but must also appear to be impartial as an added assurance to the parties that his decision will be just. The litigants are entitled to no less than that. They should be sure that when their rights are violated they can go to a judge who shall give them justice. They must trust the judge, otherwise they will not go to him at all. They must believe in his sense of fairness, otherwise they will not seek his judgment. Without such confidence, there would be no point in invoking his action for the justice they expect.

            Due process is intended to insure that confidence by requiring compliance with what Justice Frankfurter calls the rudiments of fair play. Fair play cans for equal justice. There cannot be equal justice where a suitor approaches a court already committed to the other party and with a judgment already made and waiting only to be formalized after the litigants shall have undergone the charade of a formal hearing.

            The judgment is set aside and directed a new trial.