SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo has granted the request of a defendant to suppress evidence in a sexual assault case.
Search Osilek Jr. is accused of sexually assaulting a then-15-year-old girl in January 2018.
Represented by court-appointed attorney Joseph E. Horey, Osilek moved to suppress statements and all evidence relating to or deriving from his statements made to police officers on Jan. 23, 2018.
The lawyer also asked to suppress the physical evidence of condoms and wrappers that were collected based on statements made by Osilek at the scene of the alleged crime.
Horey said Osilek’s Fifth Amendment rights were violated “when he did not knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waive his constitutional rights before the interrogation.”
Osilek was 19 years old at the time.
According to court documents, on Jan. 23, 2018 at about 1:30 p.m., the Department of Public Safety received a report regarding a sexual abuse of a minor.
At Marianas High School, responding officers spoke with MHS staff as well staff from the Division of Youth Services regarding a possible sexual assault of a minor at the Coral Ocean Point beach. They said Osilek was the suspect.
Police then proceeded to Saipan Southern High School, the defendant’s school.
With the SSHS vice principal’s permission, the school counselor took the defendant out of his class and brought him to the main office.
The counselor also informed the officers that Osilek was a special education student and needed to be spoken to slowly and clearly with basic words.
An officer asked the defendant if he was aware of the active case against him. Osilek said he was not.
The officer then “invited” the defendant to the police station to continue the discussion.
Osilek was not arrested and no warrant was produced.
At the station, Osilek signed the constitutional rights waiver form. The officers continued to question Osilek and urged him to tell the truth. Police then transported the defendant from the police station to the Coral Ocean Point beach, the scene of the alleged crime.
Based on the defendant’s statements, evidence was collected. Eventually, after confessing to having sex with the victim, the defendant was arrested and transported to the Department of Corrections for booking and detainment.
In his ruling, Judge Govendo found that Osilek did not knowingly and intelligently waive his Fifth Amendment rights or Miranda protections before he made statements in response to police interrogation.
The judge noted Osilek’s limited reading and comprehension skills, “and his heightened susceptibility to police coercion which resulted in signing a form that was misrepresented by the police.”
In January 2020, Judge Govendo found Osilek competent to stand trial.
Although psychiatric evaluations from two psychologists concluded that Osilek suffers from a mild intellectual disability, the judge said Osilek has “adequate capacity to understand the criminal proceedings against him.”
Kenneth Govendo
