By Gina Tabonares
Variety News Staff

U.S. ATTORNEY for the Districts of Guam and NMI Lenny Rapadas, who was sued by a jailed boat captain for alleged civil rights violation, says his office acted appropriately, adding that it was the defendant who did not exercise his right to appeal.
Rapadas, along with Chief Marshal of Guam Joaquin L.G. Salas and Chief Probation Officer Frank Michael Cruz, was sued by Wen Yueh Lu, the captain of the fishing vessel Marshalls 201 which was seized last year for illegal fishing.
Lu was charged in a criminal case on Dec. 8, 2006 for failing to allow U.S. Coast Guard officials to board the vessel. The defendant was subsequently locked up in a Guam detention facility after his bail hearing on Dec. 13.
He complained that his passport was confiscated and was not allowed to leave Guam.
While Rapadas said they are not responding to the merits of Lu’s petition because the district court has no jurisdiction on the case, he said the petition must exhaust his judicial remedies "unless it would be futile to attempt to do so."
He said the court may reconsider his conditions of release and agree to return his passport and allow him to leave Guam if he posted a bond which would be adequate to ensure his return for trial.
"It is undisputed that should defendant fail to appear for trial, the United States would have no legal recourse through the usual channels of extradition. The district court may decide that it would allow petitioner to leave Guam if he were to post a bond significantly higher than the $5,000 now with the court," the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated in its reply.
The government lawyers also urged the petitioner to convert his petition to a review, saying that the habeas corpus petition he filed is a civil matter and must be filed in an appropriate motion under the criminal case number.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office asked the court to dismiss the petition, saying the court has no jurisdiction over the issue.
Meanwhile, the court has scheduled that all motions to amend the pleadings on the Marshalls 201 forfeiture case shall be filed on or before March 2, 2007.
The discovery cutoff date is July 27, 2007, while expert discovery is due on Aug. 3, 2007.
The preliminary pretrial conference is set for Nov. 2, 2007 at 10:30 a.m., while the trial commences on Nov. 26, 2007.