SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan has directed the parties in a drug case to file additional briefs regarding a defendant’s request to modify her release conditions so she can have contact with her husband who has a pending drug case.
The government said Jashlie Nicole Camacho Reyes, 28, imported methamphetamine or “ice” from California to Saipan through the U.S. Postal Service.
She was charged with importation of contraband and trafficking of a controlled substance.
Reyes, represented by attorney Joe W. McDoulett, is opposing the government’s motion to vacate the preliminary hearing.
McDoulett said his client is “entitled to a preliminary hearing examination…if she is substantially deprived of her liberty.”
In addition to the supervision of a third-party custodian, McDoulett said the defendant has been restricted from contact with her spouse — the father of five of her six children.
“Defendant is unable to reside in her own home or make everyday decisions about the care and welfare of her children together with her spouse,” her lawyer said.
The government should be required to establish probable cause for this substantial deprivation of her right to reside and communicate with her husband, McDoulett added.
Citing a previous ruling, he said “the purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed and that the defendant has committed it.”
The government should meet its burden to show it can prove probable cause as to all elements of the alleged offenses, McDoulett said. “To date, the government has provided evidence only that an amount of a controlled substance was sent to the CNMI. There has been no evidence tying the defendant to the original act of causing the substance to enter the CNMI. Nor has there been any evidence to show the defendant took control of or expected the package to be delivered to her.”
McDoulett said the “defendant should not be subjected to the substantial deprivation of her liberties while the government prepares for trial without a determination that there is probable cause as to all elements of the alleged offenses.”
At the hearing on Dec. 30, the government was represented by Assistant Attorney General Chester Hinds who told the court that the defendant was out of custody and therefore “not deprived of her liberty.”
Originally, the court imposed a $100,000 cash bail on Reyes.
On Dec. 28, the court granted the defendant’s request for bail modification and she was released to a third-party custodian after posting a $10,000 property bond.
Reyes was ordered not to have contact with her husband who also has a pending drug case. According to court documents, Derik Reyes is the defendant’s husband.
Hinds, in his request to vacate the preliminary hearing, said the “defendant is not entitled to a preliminary examination if he/she is not substantially deprived of his/her liberty.”
Hinds said, “There is no constitutional right to a preliminary hearing.”
Judge Bogdan has scheduled another hearing for Jan. 8 at 9 a.m.
