Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Judge Manuel Real (photo: Charles Votaw/Los Angeles Daily Journa)l
U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real has found himself being questioned again by his judicial colleagues, this time regarding his oversight of a $30 million fund slated to go to victims of Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship in the Philippines. Real has been entrusted with the money for several years while the courts decided what to do with the now $34 million fund that once belonged to the late Filipino ruler. But when he ordered the money to temporarily go back to Merrill Lynch for safekeeping, his brief, indecipherable accounting of the funds raised alarms and eventually prompted a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit appellate court to step in.
The appellate judges found Real’s accounting “curious” and "filled with cryptic notations” that did not satisfactorily explain why the fund only grew from $33.8 million in 2000 to $34.7 million. No one involved in the issue has accused Real of wrongdoing, although some claimants suspect Real may have already diverted some of the money to Filipinos who endured human rights abuses under the Marcos government. Back in 1995, Real ruled in another case that victims of the former regime deserved financial compensation totaling $1.9 billion.
The Ninth Circuit has ordered another judge to now review the disputed account, something the Los Angeles Times characterized as “a rare act of implied censure that Real has now endured at least 11 times in his long judicial career.”
On the judicial review website The Robing Room, where defense attorneys, prosecutors and others can review the performance of judges, Real rates a 2.9 on a scale of 1-10. His rating is the fourth lowest in the country, and his review page is filled with highly critical assessments of his approach and performance while serving on the bench.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Federal Judge Criticized for Handling of Claimants' Assets (by Carol Williams, Los Angeles Times)
Court Asks Further Accounting on Funds (Courthouse News Service)
Ninth Circuit Order (U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals) (PDF)
Hon. Manuel L. Real (Robing Room)
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