By Cherrie Anne E. Villahermosa
Variety News Staff

THE Supreme Court has affirmed a man’s conviction on one count of assault and battery, but reversed his conviction on another count of assault and battery, saying the trial court erred in finding him guilty of two counts of assault and battery.
Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan, Associate Justices Alexandro C. Castro and John A. Manglona, in their order on Tuesday, remanded Leland T. Milliondaga’s case to the trial court which was instructed to enter the appropriate judgment of conviction and to re-sentence the defendant.
The justices said the trial court erred in finding Milliondaga guilty of two counts of assault and battery, adding that this is a violation of his constitutional rights against double jeopardy.
Milliondaga was charged for grabbing his wife’s shoulders and shoving her, dragging her into bed and trying to choke her during an argument on Jan. 15, 2005.
He was convicted on two separate counts of assault and battery.
The trial court found that the first assault and battery occurred when Milliondaga pushed and shoved his wife.
The second assault and battery occurred when Milliondaga tried to choke his wife in bed, the trial court stated.
Milliondaga was convicted on Jan. 20, 2006 by Judge Kenneth Govendo.
Milliondaga filed his appeal in the Supreme Court on Feb. 10, 2006, arguing that his conviction on two counts of assault and battery violated his rights against double jeopardy since both counts involved the same victim with continuous physical contact.
The high court, in affirming one conviction and reversing the other, stated that testimony at trial shows that there was continuous physical contact against the same victim with no intervening period of time.
The justices said there is nothing in the record to support multiple convictions for assault and battery.
According to the justices, the government conceded that the testimony presented at trial did not support multiple convictions of assault and battery.
The government, the high court added, wanted the convictions on two separate counts merged and the record should reflect that Milliondaga was convicted of only one count of assault and battery.
“No person shall be put twice in jeopardy for the same offense regardless of the governmental entity that first institutes prosecution,” the justices said, citing the CNMI Constitution.
Milliondaga was sentenced by the trial court to one year of imprisonment, all suspended except for 10 days and was placed on supervised probation for one year.
He was also ordered to pay a fine of $300.