Was Kristine Ferrer disrespectful to Lorna Kapunan during Sara trial?
Apart from defending Vice President Sara Duterte, Kristine Ferrer had another tough job: Going head-to-head with titan Lorna Kapunan.
Ferrer was the assigned defense lawyer to cross-examine Commission on Audit’s (COA) Xylene del Campo on Wednesday, August 12.
The initial tension flared when the two opposing lawyers clashed over the presentation of the Office of the Vice President’s audit observation memorandum. With a high-pitched voice, Ferrer told the floor that Kapunan should not dictate on how she cross-examines Del Campo.
After that, Kapunan interrupted Ferrer’s cross with a handful of objections.
Then from time to time, Ferrer would raise her voice, not allowing the seasoned opposing counsel to overpower her. While throwing questions at the COA witness, Ferrer would also tap her pen on the podium for emphasis.
The Senate drama reached a climax when the defense lawyer asked Del Campo about COA’s Joint Circular No. 2015-01 or the memorandum that covers the auditing process for confidential funds.
Kapunan wanted presiding officer Chiz Escudero to stop Ferrer from cutting Del Campo’s responses mid-sentence. Ferrer insisted that the floor was hers.
“Never mind if you are on cross. There are limits to cross-examination. Misleading questions are not allowed in court,” Kapunan said.
“They are allowed,” Ferrer responded.
“I don’t think I need to lecture her on that,” Kapunan said.
When everyone thought the tension had been diffused by Escudero, Kapunan took a swipe at Ferrer during the lunch break.
“‘Yung mga anak ko lahat lalaki ‘no? Sanay na ‘ko sa mga disrespectful. Kaya lang, ‘yung mga anak ko, pinalaki ko to be respectful. Sana siya rin,” said Kapunan. (All my children are boys. I’m used to disrespectful people. But, I raised my children to be respectful. I hope she [Kristine] is too.)
After the short recess and the session resumed, Ferrer manifested that side remarks should not be made by counsels during session.
For the defense team, Ferrer had no intention of disrespecting anyone. Defense spokesperson and counsel Michael Poa said every lawyer has his/her own style, and Ferrer was just highly charged on Wednesday.
“I’m sure there was no intention to disrespect anyone, be it opposing counsel, the witness, and of course the honorable court,” Poa told reporters.
When the session resumed after 1 pm, Ferrer appeared to have toned down. Her voice was lower. She was calmer.
So did Poa or the defense team talk to her? Was she given a reality check on how she performed that morning?
“No…. We usually let lawyers handle themselves the way they [are] used [to] handling themselves,” said Poa. “Maybe in the morning, [it had something to do with the] nature of the questions, nature of the objections. And in the afternoon, the nature of questions changed.” – Rappler.com
