In re Blanco Colón
In re Blanco Colón
Opinion of the Court
In compliance with the order entered by this Court on January 22, 1965, the Solicitor General preferred the following charges against Aristides Blanco Colón, respondent herein:
“First Charge
“Aristides Blanco Colón, respondent herein, observed immoral and improper conduct in sending to Superior Judge Quintín Morales Ramirez — before whom he tried his cases and a case was submitted for rendition of judgment in which the attorney was a party defendant — the sum of $200, as a gift, with which the magistrate was to purchase alcoholic beverages*522 for his own use. The said sum- was delivered to the said magistrate on June 2, 1964, while he was in the discharge of his duties, in open court, in the Ponce Part of the Superior Court.
“Second Charge
“Aristides Blanco Colón, respondent herein, observed unlawful, improper, and censurable conduct in refusing to issue to one of the executing parties of deed No. 187, of segregation and sale, executed before the former on June 25, 1960, a certified copy thereof, as a result of which the aggrieved party was compelled to file a judicial action which respondent, as defendant' therein, used as an excuse to delay performance of his duty as a Notary Public.”
In the answer to the first charge respondent admitted (a) that he sent to Quintín Morales the sum of $200 for the aforesaid purpose, but added that such action was prompted by the friendly relations existing between them, and (b) that the delivery was made while the said magistrate was presiding at a session of the Superior Court, Ponce Part, notwithstanding his specific instructions to make the delivery at his residence on Castillo Street of Ponce; and he denied his having knowledge that at the time of the occurrence of the facts recited Judge Morales had under consideration a civil action in which Blanco Colón was the defendant. Regarding the second charge, he admitted his refusal to issue a certified copy of deed No. 187 of June 25, 1960, at the request of the interested party, and that as a result of his refusal the said party filed a judicial proceeding in order to obtain it; and he denied the other facts stated.
In May 1965 respondent requested, and the Solicitor General agreed, that the matter be submitted on the basis of the investigation record made by the Solicitor General and of the disclosures of the record of civil action CS-63-951 of the Superior Court, Guayama Part. We so ordered.
A reading of the testimony of the witnesses produced by the Solicitor . General shows that respondent actually sent on
The first charge having been essentially proved, and considering the seriousness of respondent’s acts and our duty to maintain the public faith in those who dispense justice, we decree respondent’s suspension from the practice of the legal profession for a term of one year and order that his name be stricken from the rolls of attorneys.
In his brief submitted to this Court, the respondent alleges through his attorneys:
“Respondent wishes to state that he regrets his having acted inadvertently and without pondering on the consequences of his acts, on the motives thereof, and he so admitted it ever since the nature of. his*524 action was first questioned. . . .”
“In assuming responsibility for the consequences of his conduct, respondent again deplores his observance of such conduct because of the misinterpretations to which the bare facts, cleansed of the element of intention, may give rise, and throws himself at the mercy of this Court for any corrective, if any, which it may deem proper under the circumstances pointed out, not without first praying this Court for indulgence and leniency toward his conduct, considering his clean 13-year record of professional practice and that as a result of the initiation and prosecution of this proceeding he has realized his error and will guard against the repetition of such conduct.”
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.