Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco Gatewood earlier denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Haydn Villegas through his attorney, Anthony Long.
Gatewood ordered that the Dec. 19, 2011 status hearing is necessary to prevent a miscarriage of justice.
She also noted the complexity of the case and the need to provide both parties reasonable time for effective preparation.
Gatewood said “the court did not commit a clear error in applying the law” when it denied the motion to dismiss filed by Villegas.
The judge also rejected the defendant’s arguments that the court improperly invaded the province of the jury.
Gatewood said: “The court’s findings in its order denying motion to dismiss were for purposes of deciding the motion. The defendant will still have an opportunity to argue his theory that the last over act was outside the scope of statute of limitations to the jury at trial.”
Last September, Gatewood ruled that the charge of conspiracy against Villegas was not barred by the statute of limitations.
The court said it found that the last overt act occurred on Jan. 17, 2007, and the grand jury returned the indictment against Villegas on Dec. 16, 2010 which was within five years of the last overt act.
Villegas said the last alleged overt act occurred on or about May 13, 2005, when co-defendant “Ana Villegas transacted and caused to be transacted at PNB foreign exchange a ‘counter’ check in the amount of $7,500 which check was later returned based on insufficient funds….”
Last April, Gatewood ordered a consolidated jury trial of the Villegas and his wife Ana Maria Villadiego Villegas with conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with the more than $109,000 losses that the Philippine National Bank incurred when checks with insufficient funds were processed through its system.
The couple had denied the charges.
In July 2010, the former manager of PNB Express Remittance Center pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. She has yet to be sentenced. She will testify in the jury trial.
