To warrant dismissal from service, misconduct must be grave, serious, important, weighty, momentous, and not trifling. The misconduct must imply wrongful intention and not a mere error of judgment and must also have a direct relation to and be connected with the performance of the public officer's official duties amounting either to maladministration or willful, intentional neglect, or failure to discharge the duties of the office. In order to differentiate grave misconduct from simple misconduct, the elements of corruption, clear intent to violate the law, or flagrant disregard to established rule, must be manifest in the former. These acts are inimical to judicial service and constitute conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service as they violate the norm of public accountability and diminish or tend to diminish the peoples faith in the Judiciary.
