THE Office of the Attorney General wants to depose former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres to learn how much it cost taxpayers to pay his four defense attorneys so he could avoid complying with a legislative subpoena.
The motion for the deposition of Torres, filed by Chief Solicitor J. Robert Glass Jr. in Superior Court, is in connection with Torres’ lawsuit against the Department of Finance relating to the contract of special prosecutor James Robert Kingman.
Torres is challenging Finance’s refusal to issue a declaratory order on the validity of an employment contract between the AG’s office and Kingman, an off-island attorney.
According to Glass, Torres petitioned the court to invalidate the contract between the Office of the AG and the special prosecutor on the grounds that the contract did not conform to the procurement regulations.
“The purpose of the petition is to void the special prosecutor’s contract in an attempt to disqualify him from prosecuting Mr. Torres,” Glass said.
But, he added, “Mr. Torres himself procured numerous attorneys during his tenure as governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.”
“The OAG procured documents related to Mr. Torres’ procurement of numerous attorneys to represent him and his office while governor,” Glass said. “The OAG believes that Mr. Torres does not come before this Court with clean hands and believes a deposition is required in order to fully ascertain the facts and circumstances of Mr. Torres’ procurement of attorneys while governor of the Commonwealth.”
Glass said as governor, Torres sought and procured numerous attorneys and government contracts utilizing the same procurement regulations he now accuses the OAG of violating.
“In order to bring such a claim, Mr. Torres will need to have not himself violated such procurement regulations. While the documents from the Department of Finance and the Office of the Governor may provide some insight into the procurement of his attorneys, there are still many questions that only Mr. Torres himself can answer in regards to his procurement and payment of attorneys to represent him and the Office of the Governor in his numerous legal battles over the past years,” Glass said.
“Further, it will establish that Mr. Torres understands that the contract for payment of attorney fees is not the same as legal representation that could be done on a pro bono basis, and as such, an understanding that the prosecution of him and the contract for payment of the special prosecutor are two different issues,” Glass added.
“As such testimony, under oath, is necessary for the OAG to properly and fully present its defense, a deposition of Mr. Torres, lasting no more than one full day (eight hours) is appropriate,” Glass said.
He asked the court to grant the request “so that it is not handicapped in its presentation of its defenses to ward off petitioner’s claims.”
Torres, through attorneys Viola Alepuyo, Anthony Aguon, Matthew Holley and Victorino Torres, filed a petition in court requesting a judicial review of a May 17, 2023 final administrative order by the secretary of Finance, who stated that the department has no authority to issue a ruling and declare that the special prosecutor’s contract executed by the Office of the AG in connection with Commonwealth v Torres, Criminal Action No. 22-0050 is invalid.
In his judicial review petition filed on June 15, 2023, former Gov. Torres named the Finance Department and the AG’s office as respondents.
The nine-page petition asked the court to vacate or set aside the final agency decision, saying that “it is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and/or contrary to law.”
According to the petition, the special prosecutor’s contract does not comply with the procurement regulations.
The AG’s office, for its part, filed a motion to dismiss the former governor’s petition for judicial review.
Glass said the petition improperly included the OAG and failed to exhaust Torres’ administrative remedies. Moreover, the case is not ripe for judicial decision and the former governor lacks standing as he is not aggrieved by the contract based on his assertion that he is being unlawfully prosecuted, Glass added.
He said the OAG acknowledges that the dismissal of the case would moot the motion for deposition, but should the court deny the motion to dismiss, the motion for deposition becomes important for properly presenting all defenses and compiling the appropriate record for review.
Kingman was initially hired by the AG’s office as a special prosecutor in its misconduct-in-office case against the former governor pertaining to first-class travel.
On June 20, 2023, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios informed the Legislature that he had certified and approved Kingman’s employment as an assistant attorney general with an annual salary of $85,000.
Five days later, the AG’s office announced that Kingman would head a task force to investigate and prosecute government corruption, white collar and financial crimes.
Associate Judges Teresa Kim-Tenorio, Wesley Bogdan and Joseph N. Camacho have recused themselves from the former governor’s lawsuit against Finance for varied conflict of interest reasons.
Presiding Judge Roberto Naraja has reassigned the case to Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo.
