HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — With Heather Zona out as the acting chief prosecutor at the Office of the Attorney General, Gloria Rudolph has been appointed to take her place by AG Douglas Moylan.
Rudolph had been serving as the acting deputy attorney general of the Government Corruption Division within the OAG.
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs. Gloria Rudolph as our acting chief prosecutor,” Moylan announced through email to staff at his office.
“Working in this elected office is not easy. It takes hard work, dedication and legal acumen for each one of you to serve our client, who remains our friends, neighbors and relatives, aka (the) people of Guam. Please congratulate, welcome and, most of all, respect our new team leader, Gloria, into her new position. Thank you,” Moylan added.
Zona left the OAG after serving less than a year as the acting chief prosecutor, but her departure was not a quiet one.
Her last day in-office was Sept. 29, according to an email obtained by The Guam Daily Post.
In that email, addressed to Moylan, Zona levied various allegations, including potential nepotism and ethical issues, and concerns with the attorney general’s management style.
The former acting chief prosecutor stated that Moylan’s “meddling and interference” had disrupted operations and distracted staff at the OAG, destroying “what little morale” was left in the office.
Among her statements to Moylan, Zona said that the AG has demanded to approve all plea offers for first-degree felonies and other cases and has insisted that prosecutors ask for maximum sentences.
“This is not the purpose of a plea offer. A plea offer is what we expect we can get after trial. I have never seen a judge on Guam impose the maximum sentence, even after trial,” Zona stated.
Moylan, who was elected as attorney general in November, campaigned on being “tough on crime.” But in her letter, Zona said that insisting on maximum sentences was “not being tough on crime,” but making it so that defendants will “absolutely” want to go on trial.
“This is a troubling approach at a time when we do not have enough prosecutors to take cases to trial,” Zona wrote.
Moylan has either denied the allegations in Zona’s letter or has disagreed that wrongdoing has taken place and has pointed to the OAG’s recent releases regarding criminal trial victories, stating that winning trials is his “litmus test” of an effective management style.
Heather Zona, acting chief prosecutor for the Office of the Attorney General, speaks during a public hearing at the Guam Congress Building on April 19, 2023.
Gloria Rudolph
