ASSISTANT Attorney General James Robert Kingman refiled the penal summons related to the contempt case against former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on Tuesday.
Judge Pro Tempore Arthur Barcinas told the prosecutor on Monday that the court would not continue the proceedings until the prosecution had “effectuated a proper service of process.”
According to the refiled penal summons addressed to Torres: “YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear before the Superior Court for the Commonwealth…, Courtroom 202 at the hour of 9:00 a.m. on the 22nd of January, 2024, with respect to the Information, a copy of which is attached.”
Clerk of Court Patrick Diaz issued the penal summons on Dec. 19.
The information charged Torres with contempt for failing to comply with a legislative subpoena on Dec. 10, 2021.
Torres was also charged with misconduct in public office for committing “an illegal act under color of office, to wit: [he] failed to appear in compliance with a subpoena….”
According to the information, failure to appear in compliance with a subpoena is in violation of 1 CMC § 1306(a)(1) and made punishable by 1 CMC § 1307(a), which states that a person guilty of contempt “shall upon conviction be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”
Misconduct in public office is likewise punishable by 1 CMC § 1307(a).
“If you do not appear, an application may be made for the issuance of a warrant for your arrest,” the penal summons stated.
The original case against the former governor was filed by the Office of the Attorney General on April 8, 2022. Torres 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 Tem Alberto Tolentino dismissed without prejudice the contempt charge against Torres. 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, Judge Barcinas directed the prosecution to refile the penal summons against the former governor.
Background
In Dec. 2021, then-Governor Torres, a Republican, was found by a Democrat-Independent-led House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee in contempt of a legislative subpoena for refusing to appear before the panel, which was investigating his public expenditures.
On Jan. 12, 2022, the House impeached Torres, who was accused of corruption, neglect of duty and felonies of theft as well as contempt.
On May 18, 2022, the Republican-led Senate acquitted Torres of all charges.
Subsequently, the former governor sued the House JGO Committee and sought a court declaration that the subpoena was unlawful and that its enforcement would violate the CNMI Constitution.
But according to the committee, the speech or debate clause of the CNMI Constitution made them absolutely immune from a suit by the governor.
The Superior Court agreed and dismissed the case. Torres then appealed the dismissal to the CNMI Supreme Court.
Last year, the justices pro tempore — Guam Supreme Court Chief Justice Philip Carbullido, Guam Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert J. Torres, and Guam Superior Court Judge Arthur Barcinas — presided over the appeal proceedings and heard arguments from the parties.
On Oct. 31, 2023, they dismissed Torres’s appeal.
James Robert Kingman
