JUDGE Pro Tempore Arthur Barcinas has granted former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ motion for probable cause determination in the refiled contempt case against him.
In an order issued on March 29, Judge Barcinas said the hearing will be held on April 15, 2024, at 2 p.m. via Zoom.
“The evidence shall be presented in the same manner of presentation as a preliminary hearing. Testimonial evidence will be presented in court and the attorneys will be required to appear in court for the taking of testimony,” the judge added.
The information filed by the Office of the Attorney General against Torres includes two counts.
Count One charges contempt, which has a penalty of not more than one-year imprisonment, or a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or both. (See 1 CMC §1307[a].)
Count Two charges misconduct in public office for committing contempt under color of office, which is also punishable by 1 CMC § 1307 (a). The punishment for such conduct is not more than two years’ imprisonment, or a fine of not more than $1,500 or both.
In his motion, the former governor, through attorney Joaquin DLG Torres, said, “The judiciary did not make and has not made any probable cause determination in connection with the Information [filed by the OAG].
“Torres submits that issuing the Summons and requiring Torres to appear and defend the charges without any probable cause determination by a judicial officer violates due process, the prohibition on unreasonable seizures, the constitutional right to privacy and equal protection of the law.
“The Summons issued to Torres in this case is fatally defective as it violates due process, the right to privacy and equal protection. Torres, therefore, should not have to answer the Information based on the defective Summons,” his attorney added.
‘Neither ethical nor cute’
Assistant Attorney General James Robert Kingman, who opposed the motion, said: “Gamesmanship from attorneys is a natural and normal aspect of the practice of law. A full-throated, zealous defense of one’s client is encouraged. It is even more understandable and expected when a client is a family member with aligned interests. But legal representation has a higher standard of conduct than any familial tie.”
Attorney Torres is the brother of the former governor.
According to Kingman, “Feigning ignorance of fundamental legal [principles] is neither ethical nor cute. Asking for the participation in such mummery from a court of record is worse. Doing it repeatedly and brazenly is worse still. Defendant, at the prompting of the Court, in bad faith argues a bad argument badly. It is one that has been litigated and adjudicated several times in the past. It has been litigated and adjudicated in this case. It has been litigated and adjudicated in this case by these attorneys.”
“Once again,” Kingman said, “they attempt to argue the lack of a law’s language is the basis for their relief, this time shifting their claim away from what they argued in their appearance about the need for a probable cause hearing before an information and, despite what was ordered to be briefed, argues that it is the penal summons that needs a probable cause finding before issuance. It is simply the most recent in a series of increasingly silly and desperate efforts to impede the legal process. Such petulant law mongering is not merely insulting but sanctionable. The present motion is part of a pattern by Defendant of asking the courts to abase themselves into a pretense of legitimate concern over frivolous motions. Further indulgence of kayfabe appeals to high [principles] will only continue to delay the straightforward legal issues beyond the point of adjudication, denying the Commonwealth’s interest in the administration of justice,” Kingman added.
He said given “the history of this defendant’s abuse of legal process, the Court must take the opportunity to establish where it stands.”
Original case
The original case against the former governor was filed by the OAG on April 8, 2022. The former governor was charged with 12 counts of misconduct in public office and one count of theft relating to the issuance of airline tickets for business class, first class, or other premium class travel for himself and/or Diann T. Torres, his wife. The case also alleged one count of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a legislative subpoena.
The former governor has denied the charges.
On Aug. 23, 2022, Judge Pro Tempore Alberto Tolentino dismissed without prejudice the contempt charge against the former governor. Without prejudice means that the charge can be refiled.
The judge said evidence indicated that the prosecutor, J. Robert Glass Jr., was exposed to “privileged information regarding non-appearance to a legislative subpoena as charged in Count XIV — Contempt.”
On Oct. 26, 2023, Kingman refiled a separate charge of contempt and misconduct in public office against the former governor.
On Dec. 19, 2023, Judge Barcinas directed the prosecution to refile the penal summons against the former governor.
