THE Office of the Attorney General, through Chief Solicitor J. Robert Glass Jr., wants the CNMI Supreme Court to review the trial court’s finding of no probable cause in the sexual assault case against Willie Carnell Frink.
Frink, a steward supervisor in one of the strategic prepositioning ships, was arrested after he was accused of raping a female crewmember, and was charged with one count of sexual assault in the first degree.
At a preliminary hearing on Nov. 23, 2022, the Superior Court found no probable cause to charge Frink and dismissed the case without prejudice.
Without prejudice means that the case can be refiled.
In the petition for writ of mandamus, Glass said the lower court’s order raises new and important problems or issues of law when it comes to prosecuting sexual assault cases.
According to an online legal dictionary, a writ of mandamus compels a court to exercise its jurisdiction when it has refused to exercise it.
In his petition, Glass said the “issue of inclusion of irrelevant information in an arrest warrant affidavit is important as the preliminary hearing judge has begun to dismiss other cases with prejudice and make determinations of bad faith on prosecutors due to the erroneous conclusion that a defendant’s denial of the crime as consensual must be included in an affidavit as it would destroy probable cause.”
Glass said this issue “will have lasting repercussions on the Commonwealth and its people as numerous sexual assault cases will not be able to be prosecuted simply because a defendant said the sex was consensual. It will lead to less victims coming forth to report crimes because they will not be heard or believed.”
Glass said the petition also raises the issue of whether a victim’s testimony, standing alone, is sufficient evidence at preliminary hearings.
Moreover, it “raises the issue of the preliminary hearing court judge making factual determinations on disputed evidence, assessing credibility of victim witnesses who are not even testifying in front of the judge, and if the judge may assign weight to the testimonial evidence at preliminary hearings,” Glass said.
He said the petition likewise raises the issue of whether the preliminary hearing judge can require “more evidence” before the Commonwealth may refile a charge or whether the court’s opinions control on the matter.
“As such the factors weigh in favor of granting the writ of mandamus,” Glass added.
“This [high] court should issue a writ of mandamus vacating the order finding no probable cause, should make a finding of probable cause based on the evidence provided at the preliminary hearing, and order reinstatement of all the charges.”
He said mandamus relief “is appropriate in this case because the lower court’s decision is clearly erroneous as a matter of law.”
Initially, Frink was represented by the Public Defender’s Office, but he later acquired the services of private attorney Colin Thompson.
According to the complaint, the victim told police that she and Frink were co-workers and that he was her supervisor.
She said on Nov. 11, 2022, at around 1 p.m., she hung out with Frink and went swimming at a hotel.
According to the victim, Frink told her that he rented a room at another hotel where they could hang out.
She said while swimming, she and Frink drank alcoholic beverages in the pool bar area.
She told investigators that because it was happy hour, Frink bought her rum and Coke. After the second drink she said she started feeling very dizzy, nauseous, and shaky.
She said she was not feeling good when they went to the hotel room that Frink rented. She said she took a shower and while in the bathroom she threw up and later sat down on the bed due to dizziness.
She said she believed her drink was spiked with a “roofie.”
She said Frink offered her a massage. She said she was hesitant to oblige, although Frink’s hands were already on her shoulders. She said she shrugged Frink off, but he laid her down against the bed and started rubbing her back with lotion.
She said she tried to squirm away, but Frink held her back down and told her to “just relax.” The victim said at that point she was feeling very confused.
She said she began to black out and “all of a sudden Frink was having sexual intercourse with her without her consent.”
