Ngiraingas moves to dismiss his case

The Governor through his counsel Oldias Ngiraekelau filed a motion to dismiss with prejudice the information charging him with misconduct in public office, ethics violation, aiding and abetting and the information charging him separately with bribery and misconduct in public office.In his motion, Ngiraingas stated that the periods between the filing of the two informations and June 4, 2007, the time former Justice Larry W. Miller issued his decision on the pretrial motions may properly be excluded from the time computations on the question of when defendant must be brought to trial.The governor stated in his motion that after the June 4, 2007, the Speedy Trial Act required the Republic of Palau to bring Ngiraingas to trial within 70 days from that date.The Governor said, since June 4, 2007, until the filing of this motion, a period well in excess of 310 days, Ngiraingas has not been brought to trial and no attempt has been made to bring him to trial, which is a clear violation of his constitutional and statutory right to a speedy trial.The Governor added that the delay in bringing him to trial constitutes a violation of Rule 48 (b) of the Palau Rules of Criminal Procedure, which partly stated that “if there is unnecessary delay in bringing a defendant to trial, the court may dismiss the information.”“In determining whether to dismiss the case with or without prejudice, the court shall consider the seriousness of the offense and the facts and circumstances of the case. The charges do concern serious allegations of criminal act however, the cases are not complex or complicated,”Ngiraingas said adding “the case has laid dormant following the court’s decision and order on the parties pretrial motions.”The government through Special Prosecutor Everett Walton filed an information against Ngiraingas charging him with one count of misconduct in public  office, one count of ethics violation and one count of aiding and abetting a violation of the foreign investment act on May 31, 2005.The trial was set for May 11, 2006. On April 12, 2006, a second information was filed charging the governor with one count of misconduct in public office and bribery.The court consolidated the trials of the two informations and assigned the cases to Associate Justice Larry Miller. The trial was set for February 26, 2007.