THE chairwoman of the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee, Celina Babauta, on Wednesday presented a copy of an email from one of the governor’s lawyers indicating, she said, “unethical behavior” on their part.
The email was from attorney Richard Miller of the Banes Horey Berman & Miller law firm and addressed to Supreme Court Deputy Director Nora Borja.
In the email, Miller said the governor was “requesting a chambers conference with the Chief Justice [Alexandro Castro] regarding [former] Judge [Timothy] Bellas’s appointment….”
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, through his legal counsel Gilbert J. Birnbrich and the Banes Horey Berman & Miller law firm, has sued the House JGO which found him in contempt of a legislative subpoena.
On Dec. 16, 2021, Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro appointed former Judge Timothy H. Bellas to be the judge pro tempore in the lawsuit after Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja, Associate Judges Wesley Bogdan, Kenneth Govendo, Teresa Kim-Tenorio and Joseph N. Camacho recused themselves from the case.
Citing the “highly partisan atmosphere” of their client’s civil complaint, the governor’s attorneys requested the Superior Court to appoint a judge from outside the CNMI “who has no ties or allegiances, real or perceived,” to Commonwealth politicians.
Distortion
Last week, Babauta stated that the governor “attempted to manipulate the Judicial Branch by requesting a closed-door meeting between himself and the Chief Justice.”
This was denied by Birnbrich who said that Babauta distorted and misrepresented the governor’s concerns.
On Wednesday, after the House voted to impeach the governor by a vote of 15 to 4 with 1 abstention, Babauta said Miller’s email to the Supreme Court deputy director shows that Birnbrich “not only denied the governor’s attempt to meet with the chief justice, he completely and conveniently left out the ex parte communication from his co-counsel to the Chief Justice.”
Ex parte means outside the presence of the opposing counsel.
“It is clear that Mr. Birnbrich has masqueraded the facts to fit their narrative and Mr. Birnbrich owes me an apology for his attempt to besmirch my reputation,” Babauta said.
She added that she will officially request the NMI Bar Association to investigate and determine if Birnbirch should be sanctioned and disciplined for making allegations against her as JGO committee chairwoman.
She said the NMI Bar should also investigate whether or not Miller should be sanctioned for “professional misconduct.”
Large printed copies of Miller’s email was displayed outside the legislative building where about 200 government employees gathered to express support for the governor.
What he said
Birnbrich has said that the governor “did not seek a personal meeting with the chief of justice. His counsel requested a conference to seek clarification of the chief justice’s order to notify the clerk of court of any ‘good cause or reason’ why Judge Bellas should not sit on the case.”
The governor, Birnbrich added, “was not going to be present at any meeting allowed by the chief justice.”
According to Miller’s email to the Supreme Court deputy director: “Governor Torres is requesting a chambers conference with the Chief Justice regarding Judge Bellas’s appointment….”
Babauta said, based on this email, “there can be no doubt that Governor Torres wanted a face-to-face meeting with the chief justice to discuss the selection of the judge who would preside over his lawsuit against the JGO. It’s right here in black and white. Governor Torres is requesting a chambers conference with the chief justice regarding Judge Bellas’s appointment….”
She said, “This attempt to meet with the chief justice in chambers, off the record, is inappropriate and highly unethical. It undermines the integrity of the legal process that the governor initiated when he filed the lawsuit against the JGO. If it was an actual attempt to meet ex parte, it is sanctionable conduct and Mr. Miller should face serious consequences — to include possible disbarment if it is determined that his ex parte email communication, which was clearly and beyond dispute, professional misconduct, was intended to set up an ex parte meeting in chambers with the chief justice.”
Declined
Babauta then showed a copy of the Supreme Court deputy director’s response to Miller:
“The Chief Justice has seen your message, and he will not meet with your client concerning this matter. The order is clear; any concerns about the appointment of Timothy H. Bellas as judge pro tempore may be made in writing and sent to the Clerk of the Superior Court.
“It appears that this email was not served on the opposing side. Please serve the opposing party the email if you have not already done so.”
Babauta said, “Despite instruction from the Supreme Court to send [his] email to the opposing party at 8:35 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 30, Mr. Miller did not send the email to the JGO until 4:15 p.m. on the same day. It took Mr. Miller seven hours and 40 minutes to comply with the instructions from the Supreme Court.”
Babauta also said, “During this seven-hour time period between receiving directions from the court (at 8:35 a.m.) and his sharing of the correspondence with the JGO, Mr. Miller drafted and sent a letter to Superior Court Clerk Patrick Diaz which was received at 3:45 p.m. on December 30, 2021. The circumstances of this letter appear to be very suspicious, and it is reasonable to question whether this letter was drafted during this seven-hour span to cover up the unethical and irresponsible nature of the ex parte email communication and the requested ex parte meeting.”
Babauta added, “This behavior is indicative of the backdoor and underhanded tactics by Governor Torres and his charlatans that we have seen in the past and are trying to avoid.”
Accurate
Asked for comment, the governor’s legal counsel said: “I stand by the accuracy of my prior statement: The Governor was not seeking a personal meeting with the chief justice.”
He said as an attorney, “I have a duty to represent and defend my client lawfully and ethically. This I have done and will continue to do so long as I am the attorney for the Office of the Governor.”
Birnbrich said the JGO chairwoman “threatens to file an ethics complaint against me. This is her right. If she does, I have complete confidence in the fairness and professionalism of the attorney disciplinary process.”
Reps. Celina Babauta and Donald Manglona look at her laptop during the miscellaneous part of Wednesday’s House session.
Legislative Bureau librarian Simion Lisua puts up a large printed copy of an email against the exterior wall of the legislative building on Wednesday.
