Roberto C. Naraja
SAYING that the supplemental motion filed by Shayne Villanueva “serves only to relitigate an issue raised prior to and developed at the July 8 hearing,” Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja struck the motion from the record.
Attorney Keith Chambers, who represents Villanueva in the contempt of Legislature case, filed a supplemental brief in support of dismissing the information against his client.
Chambers said the prosecution is incorrect in claiming that background or other broad questions cannot be responded to by an assertion of the Fifth Amendment privilege.
In a two-page order on Tuesday, Judge Naraja said, “Defendant files his supplemental motion to expand on the argument that he properly asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to general questions about his background. It is his contention that this argument was raised for the first time at the hearing on July 8, 2024.”
“This is not so,” Judge Naraja added.
He noted that the prosecution, in its opposition filed on July 1, 2024, referred “to the background questions at issue, arguing that to permit Defendant to plead the Fifth in response to these questions would render legislative investigative committees toothless.”
In his opposition to the motion to dismiss, Assistant Attorney General James Robert Kingman stated that complying “with a subpoena to testify to a legislative investigative committee is not a circumstance which will in all circumstances result in admissions which require a waiver of Fifth Amendment rights.”
Kingman said the “defendant asserts that those answers could potentially be violations of 6 CMC §1705 regarding false representations in business. Applying the idea that any admission could conflict with any unknown statement at any other place and time is far too broad of a test. Theoretically, any possible question asked by any investigative committee could be a violation of the perjury statute 6 CMC §3306, if there was testimony or representations under oath, known or unknown, to the committee.”
According to Kingman, “This assertion, taken at face value, would undermine the entire ability of the Commonwealth to carry out its investigative function.”
Judge Naraja said the defense addressed the argument in its reply by citing the U.S. Supreme Court case Ohio v. Reiner to contend that “it need only be evident from the implications of the question, in the setting in which it is asked, that a responsive answer to the question or an explanation of why it cannot be answered might be dangerous because injurious disclosure could result.”
Judge Naraja added that the “issue of whether background questions fall within the scope of the Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination was clearly raised in the initial filings.”
Villanueva is the owner of Roil Soil Marketing, which the administration of then-Gov. Ralph DLG Torres contracted to help market and promote the BOOST program in 2022.
BOOST stands for “Building Optimism, Opportunities and Stability Together,” a $17 million federally funded program initiated by the Torres administration. According to the former governor’s Chief of Staff Wil Castro, the initiative was designed to “revitalize the economy by providing federal relief funds to small businesses and non-profit organizations as well as fishers, farmers, and ranchers throughout the Commonwealth.”
On March 5, 2024, Villanueva appeared before the House Special Committee on Federal Assistance & Disaster-Related Funding, and invoked his Fifth Amendment right when asked questions about BOOST.
After the committee found him in contempt, Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez transmitted to Attorney General Edward E. Manibusan a “certification of statement of contempt” pertaining to Villanueva.
On March 22, 2024, Villanueva self-surrendered at the Department of Corrections after an arrest warrant was issued against him for contempt. He posted a $1,000 bail for his release.
During an arraignment on April 2, 2024, Villanueva pled not guilty to the charge of contempt of Legislature.
Judge Naraja has placed under advisement the motion to dismiss.
He also granted the government’s request to change the date of Villanueva’s bench trial.
Villanueva’s trial was previously set for Sept. 24, 2024, but after hearing from the parties, Judge Naraja scheduled it for Nov. 6-8, 2024.
