Superior Court Associate Judge David Wiseman has set a contempt hearing against Aldan, 53, as moved by the Attorney General’s Office for May 7, or a month before Aldan’s expected release from prison.
“To my knowledge, the commonwealth isn’t in possession of the gun. But the commonwealth will work with the counsel for the defendant to review this matter and hopefully retrieve the weapon,” said Buckingham in an interview with the Variety yesterday.
He said Wiseman granted the government’s request to withdraw the motion to set aside the plea agreement and reinstitute criminal proceedings for Aldan’s continued failure to surrender the firearm.
Aldan’s attorney Joaquin DLG Torres had yet to respond to the inquiries of this reporter.
Buckingham said: “The next hearing is set and we will be ready to work with the defendant’s counsel in an effort to retrieve the weapon. If the weapon is not retrieved, the hearing on the commonwealth’s motion to hold the defendant in contempt will proceed. Please note [that] this effort to hold the defendant accountable would not have happened if the plea was set aside.”
He added, “A motion to set aside a plea means that the guilty plea entered by the defendant would be removed.
The case would start again. The commonwealth position is that we want to retain the conviction and not start again.”
Asked why, he replied: “When the prosecution begins a case, we have the burden of proof to show that a defendant is guilty. The defendant is presumed innocent and the prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This is the highest and hardest legal standard to meet. To me, this means we should be very careful before we remove a conviction and start again.”
Aldan pleaded guilty in Nov. 2009 and was ordered by the court to start serving his six-month imprisonment without the possibility of parole the following month at the Department of Corrections facility.
When asked if Aldan was allowed to retrieve the handgun before serving his jail term, Buckingham said: “Our records do not indicate any action prior to the motion to set aside the plea agreement.”
He said “the court providing time seems appropriate and reasonable. It would have been appropriate to use this time to retrieve the weapon. As I said, there is no record of action being taken so it appears this time was not effectively used to retrieve the weapon.”
When asked about the status of the complaint of Aldan’s victim, Buckingham said he wrote a letter to the victim, informing her of the AGO’s action, particularly the ongoing changes with their “internal procedures.”
He added, “It is my practice not to comment on communications our office has with victims. We seek to be responsive but do not want to revictimize them. I did provide a draft directive concerning victim coordination and invited comment. Subsequently I did issue a directive on Jan. 27, 2010,” he explained.
“I have no further comment at this time,” Buckingham said, when asked about the status of the complaint of Mr. Aldan’s victim against the defendant’s wife, the former corrections commissioner who is now the governor’s special assistant for political affairs.
