THE defense has accused the prosecution of witness tampering and moved for a mistrial in the bench trial of former Chief of Parole Nick M. Reyes and his co-defendant, Chuilian Fu, owner of F&S Corporation.
The two were charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office, conspiracy to commit theft by deception, and theft by deception. They have denied the charges.
Attorney Joaquin Torres, representing Reyes, made the motion outside the presence of the jury, stating that a government witness who was testifying had been approached by an Office of the Attorney General investigator during recess.
Fu’s lawyer, Anthony Aguon, joined the motion for mistrial.
Assistant Attorney General James Robert Kingman, the prosecutor, told the court that he instructed the investigator to ask the witness to clarify his testimony.
The investigator asked the witness, Probation Officer Vicente Repeki, about his earlier testimony in court regarding the photos showing the work done at the Board of Parole office on Capital Hill.
After a brief discussion, Superior Court Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio denied the verbal motion for mistrial and released Repeki from further testifying.
She said Repeki’s testimony and evidence presented during the testimony will be entered into the record up to the point of the investigator’s contact with him.
Repeki testified that he saw the parolees work on the Parole Office’s pala-pala or patio.
Repeki also testified that Fu and his worker came to do some renovation on the pala-pala after the parolees had done their work.
He said Fu’s employee water-sealed the windows at the parole office, performed some electrical work, and repaired the tin roof that the parolees had worked on, noting that there were gaps and it needed additional screws to keep it in place. Repeki also mentioned that Fu’s worker installed electrical lines to the pala-pala.
On re-cross, Kingman showed Repeki some photos of the pala-pala and asked if he knew who had taken the photos and when they were taken. Repeki replied that he did not know.
According to the information filed by the Office of the Attorney General in Superior Court, on or about Oct. 4, 2022, on Saipan, “Nick Masga Reyes agreed with…Chuilian Fu that one or both would engage in or solicit theft of property by deception, to wit, the construction of a patio at the Parole Office purported to be constructed by a tailoring company owned by Chuilian Fu’s F&S Corporation in the amount of $9,997.80, but actually constructed by uncompensated labor performed by parolees under the direction of…Reyes.”
The jury trial, which started on Monday will continue today, Wednesday.
