By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
LIEUTENANT Gov. Dennis James C. Mendiola and Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services Lt. Justin Paul Mizutani pleaded not guilty Monday to refiled misconduct in public office charges during an arraignment before Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja.
Mendiola, represented by attorney Bruce Berline, and Mizutani, represented by attorney Joey San Nicolas, waived the reading of their constitutional rights and the charges before entering not guilty pleas in the 13-count information.
The Office of the Attorney General alleges that the two officials misused public funds to rent vehicles and illegally transport one of the vehicles to Rota.
Judge Naraja scheduled a status conference for April 23 at 1:30 p.m. and assigned the case to Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo.
After the hearing, Berline told reporters that the defense is “starting over, and we’ll see how it goes.”
“This is the early stage. We just entered a not guilty plea and will see what happens down the road,” he said, declining to comment on whether an out-of-court settlement is being discussed. “I can’t comment on any of that — that’s the purview of my client. As I said, this is just the arraignment, very early stages.”
The OGA refiled the 13 misconduct charges in February after the original public integrity case was dismissed in January due to prosecutorial errors. The new filing does not include Homeland Security and Emergency Management employee Joey Vincent Dela Cruz, who had been the third defendant.
The refiled case alleges that between 2022 and 2023, Mendiola and Mizutani misused public resources and facilitated unauthorized vehicle rentals and transport.
According to the OGA, Mendiola authorized the transport of private and rental vehicles on government-chartered vessels without lawful authority. Several of the vehicles were rental units, and the Commonwealth allegedly incurred more than $60,000 in unpaid rental fees.
One vehicle was allegedly transported without the rental company’s consent, forming the basis of a theft-related count.
Mendiola is also accused of approving or using multiple rental vehicles without budget authority, causing additional losses to the government. Mizutani is accused of assisting in arranging or facilitating certain rentals and authorizations tied to vehicle movements that prosecutors say lacked proper approval.
The Superior Court dismissed the original case without prejudice on Jan. 26 after Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho found that prosecutors failed to comply with required criminal procedures. The dismissal stemmed from the government’s failure to submit a court-ordered bill of particulars and its improper filing of a First Amended Information.
Assistant Attorney General Olga Kelley argued that the amended filing satisfied the court’s order and did not require a separate motion for leave to amend under Rule 7(e) of the Commonwealth Rules of Criminal Procedure. Judge Camacho disagreed, saying that the government ignored the court’s order and misunderstood the distinction between a bill of particulars and an amended information.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
