Kwesi B. Delgado Dean Ulpiano P.

Sarmiento III

2017400326 W/F 3:00PM-6:00PM

Buried Bodies

Buried Bodies tells the story of a criminal defendant named Robert

Garrow who was charged and convicted of first degree murder and rape, and the

ethical dilemma of his two defense lawyers his Frank Armani and Francis

Belge. The problem arises when a confession of the harrowing details of the

crimes committed by the defendant made under the mantle of Lawyer- Client

confidentiality was put to the public scrutiny. Under our laws the lawyer-client

relationship is fiduciary in nature, our Supreme Court ruled time and again such

as in the case of Aninon vs. Sabitsana “that the relationship between a lawyer

and his/her client should ideally be imbued with the highest level of trust and

confidence. This is the standard of confidentiality that must prevail to promote a

full disclosure of the client’s most confidential information to his/her lawyer for

an unhampered exchange of information between them.” But what would ST.

Benedict do in such a case to explore this idea we apply The Rule of St

Benedict.
 The Rule of St Benedict was developed by St. Benedict in the sixth

century to govern the lives of monastic communities as they pursued holiness in

Christ, and is still widely observed today. Among the 73 Chapters in The Rule

of St Benedict, there are two rules that I think will best apply in this case. First

“The Presumption of Defending Another in the Monastery”, which to St.

Benedict means that if God is judge, then your brother doesn’t need you to be

his lawyer. I believe that with such a rule St. Benedict would have chosen to do

the opposite of what the two legal counsels did and instead of defending Robert

Garrow, He would not allowed further suffering to the family of the victims and

aided the discovery of the truth despite the legal challenges he might face. This

is further reinforced by the rule in chapter 72 The Good Zeal of Monks, similar

to the zealous representation this requires commitment and dedication however

the main difference is that for St. Benedict monks should be moderate in

everything except love of Christ. It is the love of Christ that is paramount

consideration for St. Benedict. Thus, I believe he would not have continued the

zealous representation of Robert Garrow, because for him the truth would have

weighed more than the defending Robert Garrow, because it is in God’s

teaching that Truth will set you free.