THE local Supreme Court will have to appoint an off-island judge pro tempore to preside over former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’s lawsuit against the Department of Finance relating to the contract of special prosecutor James Robert Kingman.
Both Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja, and Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo have also recused from the case, citing conflict of interest.
Associate Judges Teresa Kim-Tenorio, Wesley Bogdan and Joseph N. Camacho earlier recused themselves from the case.
Torres is challenging the Department of Finance’s refusal to issue a declaratory order on the validity of an employment contract between the Office of the Attorney General and Kingman, a lawyer from Texas.
Torres, through attorneys 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 her administrative order, Secretary of Finance Tracy B. Norita stated that “the declaratory rulings procedure under the Administrative Procedures Act is used to determine how a statutory provision, rule, or order of an agency applies to the particular facts or case raised by the petitioner. It is not a means by which a person may challenge agency decisions that have already been made.”
She said, “Given that the contract is an existing one, it’s ‘applicability’ to a law, rule or order of DOF cannot be in question.”
In his judicial review petition filed on June 15, 2023, former Gov. Torres named the Finance Department and the AG’s office as respondents.
His 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, asked the court to dismiss the petition, saying that the case is not ripe for a 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.
The AG’s office also wants to depose the former governor to learn how much it cost taxpayers to pay his four defense attorneys so he could avoid complying with a legislative subpoena.
Finance has likewise asked the court to dismiss the judicial review petition, reaffirming that the department lacked authority to issue a declaratory order involving an existing contract.
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.
Kingman was later hired as assistant attorney general and was tasked by the AG’s office to head a task force that will investigate and prosecute government corruption, white collar, and financial crimes.
