SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho on Friday denied the request of Benigno Muna Sablan to be released to his mother as third-party custodian in his recent case in which he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend.
Police said Sablan, 40, hit his girlfriend in the face, breaking the bone in her nose, and tried to strangulate her.
He was charged with strangulation, aggravated assault and battery, assault and battery and disturbing the peace.
At the bail modification hearing, Chief Public Defender Douglas Hartig represented Sablan while Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds appeared for the government.
After the hearing, Sablan was remanded to the custody of the Department of Correction.
Judge Camacho said Sablan’s jury trial will begin on June 5 at 9 a.m.
Sablan has pled not guilty to the charges.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Sablan, his girlfriend said she was asleep on Jan. 2, 2023, at an apartment she was renting when she woke up to Sablan punching and slapping her face causing her mouth to bleed.
She said Sablan placed his left knee on her chest keeping her down and placed his hands around her neck and strangled her.
She said she must have passed out. When Sablan let go of her neck, she screamed a cry for help. Sablan then ran out of the apartment.
She said Sablan, while attacking and strangling her, did not say anything to her.
A responding police officer observed bruising on the victim’s face, left arm, and on her neck.
Sablan, who was still on probation when he committed the new offense, was paroled in 2021.
He served time for possession of a controlled substance and was also convicted of assault and battery and felony theft.
According to the Office of the Attorney General in 2017, Sablan had been in the criminal justice system since he was 14 years old.
