OUR families were very unhappy with the comments made by attorney Antonio Atalig regarding the Honorable Judge David A. Wiseman on the Angel Malite case, as reported in the Marianas Variety on Friday, April 6.
In open court on Wednesday April 4, Judge Wiseman advised all of the parties that Judge Lizama had openly distributed confidential communications directed to the presiding judge, which he felt might lead someone to question his impartiality. At the same time, Judge Wiseman made very clear that he had no bias towards any of the parties and there was no real or true reason to question his impartiality based upon the erroneous and disingenuous statements made by Judge Lizama in those letters. Nevertheless, being the honorable judge that he is, Judge Wiseman voluntarily stepped down, solely because his impartiality MIGHT be questioned. Despite the efforts by Mr. Atalig and others to discredit Judge Wiseman, we, the heirs commend him for his honorable actions.
We were equally unhappy with attorney Antonio Atalig’s comment that: “To protect the integrity of our judicial system we, as officers of the court, must ensure the fairness of the judicial process.” Where were Mr. Atalig’s concerns for the fairness of the judicial process when he obtained an order from Judge Lizama, behind closed doors, and as the Supreme Court itself found, in a surreptitious manner, awarding him almost $1.2 million of money rightfully belonging to the heirs of Angel Malite? Where was the fairness in the process when Mr. Atalig failed to advise our attorney or anyone in our family that he had taken the money? It should be made known that Mr. Atalig and the administrator are still not finished with trying to take money out of the estate for themselves. In addition to the $1,285,500 they have already pocketed, Mr. Atalig has submitted claims for an additional $489,000, which Judge Lizama had already indicated he was inclined to grant. To date, Mr. Atalig and the administrator have asked to be paid a total $1,744,500, or almost 52 percent of all of the money belonging to the estate for their “fees.” Where is the fairness in this? The question must be asked: Is Mr. Atalig really out to protect the “judicial process” in trying to get Judge Lizama back on the case, or just trying to protect his fees?
The truth is that we were denied our constitutional rights to due process when Mr. Atalig was given almost $1.2 million without any hearing and without giving us any notice or opportunity to be heard. After Judge Lizama ruled that we had no right to be heard, we had no other option than to go to the Supreme Court to try to get the money back and to attempt to replace Judge Lizama with a judge who will have the interests of the heirs in mind and not just the interests of Mr. Atalig and the administrator. We were forced into taking these drastic measures, not only to protect ourselves, but hopefully to ensure that in the future no other family in the commonwealth will be treated as we have been treated. Now, after these difficult and successful efforts, the subject of the propriety of Mr. Atalig’s fees will be subject to a fair and honest review by an impartial judge. In any litigation, we acknowledge the fact that there are winners and losers, but in the absence of “fairness” and “impartiality” there are no winners.
Our attorney Stephen Nutting did not misinterpret the Supreme Court’s decision nor, is he “judge shopping.” He is simply doing his job. We have a right to a fair and impartial judge who is thorough and not hasty in making payouts out of the estate funds without giving fair notice to all of the parties involved, or giving our family an opportunity to be heard, or as the Supreme Court found, in violation of our constitutional rights to due process.
It now should be obvious to everyone in the commonwealth that we had a fair and impartial judge in Judge Wiseman. His courage and integrity restores our faith and hope in our local judicial system. Judge Wiseman has not only proven his fairness and impartiality, but his commitment to preserving the integrity of the judiciary. The Honorable Judge David A. Wiseman deserves to be commended for his actions, not criticized.
The Heirs of Angel Malite:

ESTHER F SOUND
Dandan, Saipan
ELIAS M RANGAMAR
San Vicente, Saipan
ANAS S MALITE
Puerto Rico, Saipan
JIMMY G SABLAN
Chalan Kanoa, Saipan
FRANCES M FEJERAN
Tacoma, Washington
KANIS O SINOUNOU
Chalan Kiya, Saipan
ROSALINA M FEJERAN
Dandan, Saipan
MARCY M RANGAMAR
San Vicente, Saipan
LORNA M RANGAMAR
San Vicente, Saipan
CASSANDRA DLG. FEJERAN
Boise, Idaho