SENATOR Paul A. Manglona, and Saipan residents Carmen Patricia Deleon Guerrero and Bruce Lee Jorgensen, representing themselves, filed a lawsuit in Superior Court on Wednesday seeking to invalidate and stop the Senate impeachment proceedings against Gov. Ralph DLG Torres under its current rules.
Deleon Guerrero is a retiree while Jorgensen is an attorney.
The Senate impeachment proceedings are scheduled to begin on May 13 at 10 a.m.
The pro se plaintiffs are requesting the court to schedule an “accelerated date and time for a hearing.”
The lawsuit named Senate President Jude Hofschneider, in his official capacity, and Sens. Karl King-Nabors, Victor Hocog, Francisco Cruz, Justo Quitugua, and Vinnie Sablan, in their official capacities, as defendants.
The six Republicans comprise the Senate leadership.
Recusal
On Wednesday, Superior Court Associate Judges Teresa Kim-Tenorio and Kenneth L. Govendo issued an order disqualifying themselves from the case, saying that their impartiality might be questioned.
According to the lawsuit:
• The Senate violated the Open Government Act.
• The Senate Rules of Impeachment are invalid, null and void, of no force and effect, and unenforceable.
• The Senate, through the defendants, unconstitutionally invaded and attempted to dictate matters that lie within the exclusive province of the House of Representatives.
• The defendants, collectively, and/or individually, have breached their fiduciary duties and obligations owed to the plaintiffs and the CNMI community as a whole.
The lawsuit also stated that “in the event a Senate member declines or refuses to participate or vote in the Senate Impeachment Trial on grounds of a professed conflict of interest, then that Senator’s abstention must be recorded in affirmative for impeachment, so as to promote and protect the spirit and purpose of the NMI Constitution respecting impeachment matters, and to discourage and prevent a feigned conflict of interest assertion by a Senator intentionally or tacitly engaged in conduct which frustrates the purposes and procedures respecting the constitutionally mandated impeachment process.”
Senators Sablan and Quitugua have recused themselves from participating in the impeachment proceedings.
Sablan is Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ running mate while Quitugua is a close relative of the governor.
The plaintiffs are also seeking an order from the court enjoining “all others acting in concert, tandem, unison, collusion, or together with, on behalf of, and/or aiding, defendants from proceeding further with the Impeachment Trial and the Impeachment Proceedings under the existing, tainted Impeachment Rules without any House Impeachment Record; without one or more House members serving as House Impeachment Manager(s)/Impeachment Prosecutor(s).”
The lawsuit also seeks an order enjoining the defendants from “imposing unreasonable restrictions on the method and manner of the House presentation to the Senate of the case for impeachment, including limitations on the number and identities of House members who may participate in prosecution.”
The lawsuit likewise seeks to bar attorneys Viola Alepuyo and Joey McDoulett from having further involvement with any impeachment-related matters in the Senate, or to have any non-public communication with any member, employee, agent or contractor of the Senate for the duration of the impeachment proceedings, trial and any related activities.
The lawsuit stated that the court should immediately direct the defendants to “draft, vote upon, approve, and enact Impeachment Rules, including impeachment procedures, deadlines, and provisions for discretionary deadline extensions, in a lawful, fair, just, and equitable fashion according plaintiffs and all members of the CNMI General Public the mandates and protections guaranteed by effect of constitutional, statutory and equitable requisites, including but not limited to due process of the laws and equal protection of the laws.”
The lawsuit, moreover, wants the court to compel the defendants “to provide the House officials…on behalf of plaintiffs and the CNMI General Public, a reasonable…extension of time of not less than 30 days following May 13, 2022, to modify, amend, reorganize, and submit to Hofschneider and/or CNMI Senate Clerk Dolores S. Bermudes, and/or other Senate personnel, the House Record formatted so as to meet the formatting requisites, if any, imposed by the Senate.”
Lastly, the lawsuit asks the court to find the defendants personally liable for their actions and be penalized for it.
The new lawsuit was filed following the denial of Senator Manglona and Carmen Patricia Deleon Guerrero’s motion to intervene in Governor Torres’ lawsuit against the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee regarding a subpoena it issued.
At the hearing on May 6, Judge Pro Tem Timothy Bellas also rejected and denied Senator Manglona and Deleon Guerrero’s complaint in intervention and third-party complaint.
Torres, a Republican governor, was found by the Democrat-Independent-led House JGO committee in contempt of a legislative subpoena for refusing to appear before the panel, which was investigating his public expenditures.
In his lawsuit, Torres wanted the court to find the subpoena issued by the legislative committee invalid and unlawful.
On Jan. 12, 2022, by a vote of 15 to 4 with 1 abstention, the Democrat-Independent-led House of Representatives impeached Torres on allegations of felonies of theft, corruption and neglect of duty. He has denied the charges.
At least six of the nine senators must vote to convict the governor who will then be removed from office.
