SUPERIOR Court Judge Pro Tem Alberto E. Tolentino on Friday denied the request of Lt. Gov. Arnold Palacios to quash a subpoena to testify in the case against Gov. Ralph DLG Torres.
Judge Tolentino also ordered the lt. governor to testify at the evidentiary hearing on May 31.
“To avoid undue burden, Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios shall only appear at the evidentiary hearing to testify on May 31, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., except by further order of the court,” the judge said.
He added that the examination of Palacios at the evidentiary hearing “shall be limited by relevance to advice, if any, tendered by the attorney general or the Office of the Attorney General to Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios regarding travel policy or the issuance of premium travel tickets.”
“This order shall not limit Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios’ appearance at trial in this matter,” the judge added.
He said the subpoena for Palacios is not unreasonable or oppressive.
The lt. governor has served as acting governor, and his testimony may be relevant to show the relationship between the Office of the Attorney General and the defendant, the judge said.
Furthermore, the judge finds that compliance with the subpoena would not be unduly burdensome, as the court may limit his appearance to a specified time and date.
But the judge said Palacios’s “testimony must be specific to relevant facts related to advice, if any, tendered by the AG or the OAG to Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios regarding travel policy or the issuance of premium travel tickets.”
The AG’s office has filed a criminal case against the governor, alleging 12 counts of misconduct in public office and one count of theft relating to the issuance of airline tickets for business class, first class, or other premium class travel for himself and/or first lady Diann T. Torres. The case also alleged one count of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a subpoena.
The governor has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In Sept. 2021, the lt. governor appeared before the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee and answered questions regarding the governor’s first class travels.
Governor’s motion
Represented by attorneys Viola Alepuyo, Matthew Holley, and Anthony Aguon, Governor Torres has filed a motion to have the AG’s office withdraw or be disqualified as prosecutor.
They said the “AG is prosecuting [the] governor for an alleged violation in which the AG provided legal advice.”
As part the governor’s motion, his lawyers subpoenaed the lt. governor who, through his attorney Michael Evangelista objected, and stated that “any testimony of the witness would lack legal or factual relevance, as Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios was not involved in any discussions between the defendant and the OAG related to the charges brought against defendant.”
In addition, Evangelista said, the lt. governor was not a member of the travel committee that worked on the travel regulations referred to in the defendant’s motion.
“Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios could only testify to public policy and acts in his official capacity as lt. governor,” Evangelista said.
He added that the subpoena must be quashed because compliance would subject Palacios to “undue burden.”
Day-to-day attendance at the hearing would infringe on Palacios’s duties and responsibilities as lt. governor, his lawyer said.
The governor’s attorneys also subpoenaed former CNMI Attorney General Joey P. San Nicolas to testify in the case, but later withdrew the request after San Nicolas submitted an affidavit “that contains relevant information that has been agreed to in lieu of his testimony.”
San Nicolas in his affidavit stated that he was the AG from 2012 to 2014 and acknowledged that as AG, he had a constitutional obligation to provide legal advice to the CNMI governor.
“And if I were faced with a conflict in my representation of the governor, such matter would have been referred to an independent counsel to avoid any such conflict,” San Nicolas said.
He said he was not aware during his time as AG that the OAG identified or otherwise informed the governor, executive departments, public corporations or autonomous agencies that government premium class travel conflicted with 1CMC 7407(f).
For the prosecution
Chief Solicitor J. Robert Glass Jr., who represents the AG’s office, has asked the court to look into possible conflicts of interest in the representation of the governor by attorneys Viola Alepuyo and Anthony Aguon who have also represented two government witnesses.
Glass also subpoenaed the following former and current officials to testify in the case:
Former Department of Finance Secretary Larissa Larson, current Finance Secretary David Atalig, Sen. Victor Hocog, the governor’s executive assistant Frances Dela Cruz, Office of Personnel Management Director Frances Salas, Finance Financial Services Director Bernadita Palacios, and Finance travel section staffer Bobbie T. Cabrera.
They were ordered by Judge Tolentino to appear in court and testify on July 5 at 9 a.m.
Travel agent Chari Ramos and Police Sgt. Joey Cruz, the governor’s chief of security, were also ordered to testify on the same day.
Arnold I. Palacios
