“The newly installed attorney general prioritized pulling files on the Department of Corrections brutality incident and immediately dismisses the charges against Governor Fitial’s son-in-law Mr. Arnold Seman and his colleague Mr. Manuel Quitano who had beaten up a detainee serving a 30-day sentence for misdemeanor charges,” Cruz said in an e-mail to Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr.
Reyes, in his reponse, stated: “I will forward your concerns to [the] AG. I understand [Corrections] is ascertaining the facts administratively and that the case was not dismissed with prejudice.”
On Sept. 2, Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja dismissed the charges against Corrections Sgt. Arnold Kaipat Seman and Corrections Officer II Manuel Quitano.
On Aug. 27, Attorney General Edward T. Buckingham concurred with Chief Prosecutor Kevin A. Lynch’s motion to dismiss the charges against Seman and Kaipat.
Former inmate Robert Jake Palacios said he was assaulted by the two officers.
Lynch said the AG’s Office will refer Palacios’s complaint to the Department of Corrections which has an “effective administrative procedures in place to address action of Corrections personnel that violate the standards of conduct imposed by Corrections rules and regulations.”
“It’s a shame that the serious cases in the CNMI…still remain unresolved,” Cruz said.
He added, “Why did the newly appointed AG…move to tarnish, insult and disrespect the hard work of [his] own investigators prioritizing individuals who were charged with a serious crime of brutality behind the walls of a correctional facility [built] under a consent decree agreement with the Department of Justice?”
The Variety tried but failed to get a response from the AG’s office.
