SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has ordered the Attorney General’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office to explain whether the court can impose a sentence of community work service when there is no suspended sentence in the cases against two defendants charged with vandalism.
Violation of 6 CMC § 1805 or vandalism is punishable by: (1) First Offense — a fine of not less than $250 but not more than $1,000 and 40 hours of community service. (2) Second Offense — a fine of not less than $1,000 but not more than $5,000 and 80 hours of community service. (3) Third and any subsequent offense — a fine of not less than $5,000 but not more than $10,000 and 120 hours of community service after time served.
In the case against Dennis Omar Reyes, Assistant Public Defender Jean Pierre Nogues and Assistant Attorney General James Houston, in a joint brief, informed the court that the proposed plea agreement is perfectly lawful, appropriate and consistent with the law.
“This court may accept the plea in this case because there is in fact a suspended portion of the proposed sentence (the $250 fine) which allows the court to place the defendant on probation,” the lawyers said.
They added that community work service may be only imposed in cases involving potential imprisonment if some portion of that imprisonment is suspended.
Under the proposed plea agreement, Reyes would be sentenced to a fine of $250 and 40 hours of community work service, with payment of the fine and performance of the community work service suspended, and six months’ probation imposed.
“Acceptance of the proposed plea agreement has no ramifications for future cases other than those in which the defendant is convicted of vandalism,” the lawyers added.
Similarly, Assistant Public Defender Karie Komstock and Assistant Attorney General Heather Barcinas made a similar argument in their joint brief filed in the case of vandalism against Burthart Fanafirui.
According to the proposed plea agreement for Fanafirui, he will be sentenced to a fine of $250, with payment of fine to be suspended, and one year probation imposed.
Both joint briefs in the two vandalism cases noted that “vandalism is presently the only offense on the Commonwealth code punishable by community work service but not imprisonment.”
Judge Camacho set a motion hearing for March 2 at 10 a.m. for the case against Fanafirui.
As for the case against Reyes, no new information was available as of Sunday.
