Atalig, represented by attorney David Banes, based the new request for continuance on the “unavailability of witnesses.”
At Monday’s hearing, Banes told District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona that the defense motion for continuance, which he filed on Friday, had been mooted because the motion to compel for immunity was granted by the CNMI Attorney General’s Office.
The AG’s office granted “use immunity” to the Rota officials who have not resolved their cases to avoid further delay in the local and federal court trials
For his client’s latest motion for continuance, Banes said after the hearing on Monday, he learned that the unindicted witnesses received a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s Office offering them “informal immunity,” not statutory immunity.
“Statutory immunity enables a court to compel the testimony from a non-cooperating witness while informal immunity may not necessarily achieve the same effect,” Banes said.
“Out of an abundance of caution,” he added, “Mr. Atalig hereby renews his motion for continuance because the unindicted witnesses may still be unavailable.”
Banes said he has been conducting legal research on the issue, and “has not found any authority holding that informal immunity provides a basis for a court to, at the request of a person who is not a party to the informal immunity agreement, compel the testimony from a non-cooperating witness.”
He said, “Informal immunity is governed by ordinary contract principles…and may not offer exactly the same level of assurance as statutory immunity. In addition, since informal immunity is governed by contract law, the unindicted witnesses can refuse to accept it, leaving Mr. Atalig with no remedy.”
Banes said when he asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley regarding the inability to compel testimony based on informal immunity, the prosecutor “stated that ‘statutory immunity requires [Department of] Justice approval’ and ‘I guess you will have to renew your motion then.’”
Banes said, “Out of an abundance of caution, Mr. Atalig hereby renews his motion for continuance because the unindicted witnesses may still be unavailable.”
Mayor Atalig and his girlfriend Evelyn Atalig have been charged in the federal court with conspiracy, wire fraud, theft from program receiving federal funds, and two counts of false statements.
They are accused of orchestrating CNMI-government-funded trips to California, Palau, Guam, and Saipan from February 2018 to August 2018.
The unindicted witnesses Banes was referring to in his motion for continuance are the mayor’s co-defendants in the case filed in CNMI Superior Court accusing him and seven of his resident directors of misconduct in public office.
Vanessa Charfauros, Magdalena Mesngon, and Dexter Apatang have already disposed of the cases against them through a plea agreement with the CNMI AG’s office.
Besides the mayor, the remaining defendants in the CNMI case are Dean Manglona, Eusebio Manglona, Josepha Manglona, and Dennis Mendiola.
They have been accused of taking government-funded per diem and salary compensation to attend a Republican Party rally on Guam on June 23, 2018.
Their jury trial will start on March 30, 2020.
