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In Re Gutierrez - D

Atty. Diosdado Gutierrez was convicted of murdering a former mayor and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment. He was granted a conditional pardon by the president. The widow of the deceased filed a complaint to have Gutierrez removed from the roll of lawyers. While the conditional pardon remitted the unserved prison term, it did not override the rules allowing disbarment for conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude. The court held that the standards for lawyers, including good moral character, continue after admission. Therefore, the court ordered Gutierrez disbarred based on the nature of his conviction for murder.

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623 views1 page

In Re Gutierrez - D

Atty. Diosdado Gutierrez was convicted of murdering a former mayor and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment. He was granted a conditional pardon by the president. The widow of the deceased filed a complaint to have Gutierrez removed from the roll of lawyers. While the conditional pardon remitted the unserved prison term, it did not override the rules allowing disbarment for conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude. The court held that the standards for lawyers, including good moral character, continue after admission. Therefore, the court ordered Gutierrez disbarred based on the nature of his conviction for murder.

Uploaded by

RayBradleyEduardo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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A.C. No. L-363.

July 31, 1962

IN RE: DISBARMENT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ATTY. DIOSDADO Q. GUTIERREZ

TOPIC: Lawyers Disbarred

FACTS:

Atty. Diosdado Gutierrez admitted to it on October 5, 1945. In criminal case No. R-793 of RTC Oriental
Mindoro for murdering Filemon Samaco, former municipal mayor of Calapan and sentence him to death
penalty but later on the penalty was changed to reclusión perpetua. After serving a portion Gutierrez
was granted a conditional pardon by the President Diosdado Macapagal Arroyo on August 19, 1958. The
unexecuted portion of the prison term was remitted "on condition that he shall not again violate any of
the penal laws of the Philippines."

On October 9, 1958, the widow of the deceased Filemon Samaco filed a verified complaint before this
Court praying that respondent be removed from the roll of lawyers pursuant to Rule 127, section 5 that a
member of the bar may be removed or suspended from his office as attorney by the Supreme Court by
reason of his conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude.

Gutierrez presented his answer, admitting the facts alleged by complainant regarding his previous
conviction but pleading the conditional pardon in defense.

ISSUE: Whether or not the conditional pardon extended beyond the scope of the rule on disbarment.

HELD:

"‘A pardon reaches both the punishment prescribed for the offense and the guilt of the offender; and
when the pardon is full, it releases the punishment and blots out of existence the guilt, so that in the
eyes of the law the offender is as innocent as if he had never committed the offense. If granted before
conviction, it prevents any of the penalties and disabilities, consequent upon conviction, from attaching;
if granted after conviction, it removes the penalties and disabilities, and restores him to all his civil rights;
it makes him, as it were, a new man, and gives him a new credit and capacity.’"

The pardon granted to Gutierrez here is not absolute but conditional, and merely remitted the
unexecuted portion of his term. The practice of law is a privilege accorded only to those who measure up
to certain rigid standards of mental and moral fitness.

For the admission of a candidate to the bar the Rules of Court not only prescribe a test of academic
preparation but require satisfactory testimonials of good moral character. These standards are neither
dispensed with nor lowered after admission; the lawyer must continue to adhere to them or else incur
the risk of suspension or removal.

WHEREFORE, pursuant to Rule 127, Section 5, and considering the nature of the crime for which
respondent Diosdado Q. Gutierrez has been convicted, he is ordered disbarred and his name stricken
from the roll of lawyers.

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