By Cherrie Anne E. Villahermosa
Variety News Staff

A SUPERIOR Court jury yesterday found a convicted criminal charged with beating up a fellow inmate guilty.
The seven jurors said Gerald C. Sablan committed the offense of assault with a dangerous weapon. His victim was Francisco Pua, who is serving a 55-year jail term for the 2002 murder of a poker attendant.
Presiding Judge David A. Wiseman also found Sablan guilty of the other charge, assault and battery, and set the sentencing hearing for May 31 at 9 a.m.
The trial started on Monday, and it took the jurors less than an hour to arrive at a verdict yesterday.
The government presented four witnesses, including Pua, while the defense presented Sablan’s co-defendant James Ordillano as their witness.
The parties made their closing arguments at 2 p.m. yesterday.
The government, represented by Assistant Attorney General Anne-Marie Roy, said Sablan should be found guilty because he repeatedly beat Pua in the head with a metal pipe and there was no evidence in the case that Pua was the aggressor or was the one who initiated the fight.
Roy said there was no element of self-defense in the case. Pua, she added, was assaulted for no reason at all.
“There is no evidence that Pua beat up Ordillano (James) and Gerald (Sablan). The law applies to all, whether you’re convicted or not, whether you’re in the community outside the jail or you’re in jail — no one gets beaten by anybody just for fun,” Roy said.
Sablan’s lawyer, George Hasselback, said the jurors must be firmly convinced that Pua was telling the truth and the weapon used was dangerous.
Hasselback said no one among the four government witnesses managed to tell the reason why Pua was beaten up and only Pua knew why he was assaulted.
“Only Pua can tell the reason but can you believe what he said? Was (Pua) honest in his entire testimony? You must be firmly convinced that Pua was telling the truth — but is he telling the truth?” Hasselback said.
Hasselback, in an interview, said they respect the jury’s verdict.
Roy, in a separate interview, said that they are pleased with the verdict.
She said Sablan will face an additional year in prison for the assault and battery charge and ten more years for the assault with dangerous weapon charge.
Sablan is serving a life sentence for kidnapping and 20 years for attempted first degree murder which he has to serve without parole and runs concurrent with his life sentence.
Sablan and James Ordillano were charged for beating up Marvin Mendiola on Aug. 5, 2005 at the old airfield in Koblerville.
Ordillano entered a guilty plea to kidnapping and was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment without parole.
Sablan and Ordillano were again charged for beating up Pua on Jan. 16, 2006 in a restroom at the Department of Corrections.
Ordillano pleaded guilty to assault and battery on Nov. 22, 2006 and was sentenced to one year of imprisonment which he will serve concurrent with his 15-year jail term for kidnapping.