Vicente Camacho
SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo has rescheduled the bench trial of Rep. Vicente Camacho, who is accused of assaulting a man.
Judge Govendo vacated the bench trial scheduled for Feb. 6 and moved it to April 8, at 9 a.m.
Camacho, 61, and co-defendant Teipo Nikiti, 21, were charged with assault and battery and disturbing the peace.
The judge also scheduled a pre-trial conference for March 25 at 9 a.m.
Judge Govendo ordered the parties to minimize the setting of other business or personal commitments during the time of trial, as the court may decide to exceed normal business hours in order to expeditiously conclude the trial.
At the pretrial conference on Jan. 16, the government was represented by Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds. Camacho failed to appear but was represented by attorney Michael White while Nikiti was represented by Assistant Public Defender Karie Comstock.
In that hearing, Judge Govendo quashed the bench warrant issued to Nikiti for failing to appear in a hearing on Sept. 7, 2023.
Camacho was arrested by the Department of Public Safety on the evening of Nov. 2, 2021, but he immediately posted $1,250 cash bail and remains out of custody. He was re-elected in November 2022.
The victim, Steven Koch, suffered abrasions, bruising, and pain on his head and body from the blows, and was taken to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation for examination.
Koch, his wife and daughter also sought a temporary restraining order to prevent Camacho and three other individuals “from engaging in any further physical harm, disturbance, harassment, blocking, threats and verbal abuse.”
The three other individuals were Ignacio “Ike” S. Concepcion, Fiel Reynaldo Ortiz, and Teipo A. Nikiti.
The court granted the TRO, which expired on Nov. 8, 2022.
The incident stemmed from a long-standing animosity between Koch and his brother-in-law, Concepcion and took place near their homes on Freedom Drive in Chinatown.
Concepcion is Camacho’s friend.
