Opinion ID: 1405642
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: The Circuit Court Rightly Refused To Give Preclusive Effect To The Baguio City Regional Trial Court's Decision.

Text: Borrowing an argument from the plaintiffs-appellees, Imelda herself invokes the doctrine of collateral estoppel in relation to her motion for partial summary judgment. She urges that: (1) Roxas entered an appearance in a Baguio City court proceeding regarding the golden buddha statue by way of a letter of his attorney, Daniel Cathcart; and (2) the Baguio City Regional Trial Court's decision definitively settled the issue of the buddha's metallurgical composition. The Hawai`i appellate courts have apparently never addressed the question whether the judgments of foreign countries will be recognized for purposes of collateral estoppel. [36] It is unnecessary to answer the question in the instant case, however, because, assuming the potential for collateral estoppel, the necessary prerequisites are not met by the Baguio City Regional Trial Court's order in any event. As noted supra, in section III.A.1, collateral estoppel bars relitigation of an issue when the following conditions coalesce: (1) identity of issues; (2) a final adjudication on the merits; and (3) involvement as a party in the prior lawsuit of the person, or the person's privies, against whom it is asserted. SHOPO, 83 Hawai`i at 400, 927 P.2d at 408. First, the issue before the Philippine court, as that court articulated it, was who had the better claim to the buddha statue in the court's custody. The court's pronouncements that the statue was not composed of gold and that a golden buddha had never existed were not essential to the resolution of the issue before it. Second, there is no indication in the record that the document denominated an Order, generated by the Baguio City Regional Trial Court, constituted a final judgment. Finally, and most crucially, the Roxas Estate was not involved as a party, either directly or through a proxy, in the Baguio City proceedings. In her argument to the circuit court, Imelda suggested that, under Philippine law, Cathcart's letter to the Baguio City Regional Trial Court constituted an appearance in that case. However, she cited no authority for this dubious proposition. Cf. Bush, 81 Hawai`i at 480-81, 918 P.2d at 1136-37 (holding that the filing of an amicus brief in a former proceeding, which resulted in an adverse decision, was insufficient to support the application of collateral estoppel because the amicus had no power to control the course of the former proceeding). Neither the Roxas Estate nor GBC was listed as a party to the Baguio City proceeding in any of the associated documents that Imelda submitted to the circuit court. Further, the Baguio City Regional Trial Court's order makes no mention of the plaintiffs-appellees' involvement through Cathcart. Imelda's alternative contention in the circuit court that Alberto Umali represented the Roxas Estate in the Baguio City proceeding has no greater support in the record. The pleadings and documents proffered by Umali to the Baguio City Regional Trial Court all assert his own interest in the buddha, based on an alleged contract between Umali and Roxas in which Roxas agreed to share the proceeds of his discovery. Umali never claimed to represent the Roxas Estate, either in documents filed with the court or in the transcripts of the proceedings that were provided to the circuit court. Moreover, it is clear from his testimony that Jose Roxas neither represented the plaintiffs-appellees nor their interests. Jose testified that he wished to immediately burn the buddha in order to protect the Marcoses and the Philippines from further shame emanating from Roxas's ongoing claims against the Marcoses. Clearly, Jose Roxas was not of one mind with Felix Dacanay, the personal representative of the Roxas Estate and the incorporator of GBC, who has pursued the instant lawsuit. It is true that two of Roxas's sons were present at the hearings, providing their implicit support to Jose's petition. However, Jose himself testified that Roxas had other children who were not present or involved, and Roxas's widow was apparently not involved. Therefore, all potential beneficiaries of the estate were not represented. Accordingly, we hold that the circuit court did not err as a matter of law in declining to give preclusive effect, by way of collateral estoppel, to the order of the Baguio City Regional Trial Court.