THE criminal division of the Attorney General’s Office has petitioned the CNMI Supreme Court to order Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo to sentence Jiang Hong Sheng who had fled the Commonwealth.
On Tuesday, the high court directed Judge Govendo to file an answer to the Office of the AG’s petition for a writ of mandamus.
In an application for a writ of mandamus, Assistant AG J. Robert Glass Jr. said, “The trial court clearly erred when it refused to sentence [Jiang Hong] Sheng in absentia and refused to rule on the Commonwealth’s motion for sentencing defendant in absentia.”
In an email to Variety, chief prosecutor John Bradley said: “We have repeatedly asked Judge Govendo to either proceed to sentencing or deny our request for sentencing. He has failed to make a ruling either way, so we are asking the Supreme Court to step in and decide the issue.”
“We would prefer not to have to litigate this issue,” Bradley added. “But we believe the current rules require the judge to proceed to sentencing. Otherwise, criminal defendants will think that they can avoid being sentenced by running off after conviction if they are released on bail.”
According to court documents, a jury trial was held for Jiang Hong Sheng on May 14-21, 2018. The jury found him guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, and disturbing the peace.
The case stemmed from an apartment rental dispute between Jiang Hong Sheng and another person that turned violent.
Jiang Hong Sheng, through his defense counsel, the Public Defender’s Office, filed a post-conviction motion for judgement of acquittal on May 25, 2018, but the court denied the motion.
On June 22, 2018, Jiang Hong Sheng filed a notice of appeal alleging various trial issues for appeal.
His sentencing was set for Nov. 27, 2018, but because of the devastation caused by Typhoon Yutu on Oct. 24-25, 2018, and the time it took for the Office of Adult Probation to prepare the pre-investigation report, his sentencing was reset for March 26, 2019.
Both prior to trial and during the pendency between conviction and sentencing, Jiang Hong Sheng was released on a cash bail of $6,250.00.
According to the AG’s office, Jiang Hong Sheng failed to appear for the March 26, 2019 sentencing hearing. A bench warrant was issued and the defendant’s cash bail was forfeited.
On Nov. 6, 2019 Jiang Hong Sheng’s appeal was dismissed as “there was no final judgement from which defendant could appeal.”
On Jan. 21, 2020 the parties, with the exception of the defendant, appeared in court for the government’s initial motion to sentence Jiang Hong Sheng.
The court determined that it would sentence Jiang Hong Sheng in absentia and set a date for the hearing and deadline for the parties to submit sentencing memos.
The parties submitted sentencing memos on March 26, 2020, but the sentencing hearing set for March 31, 2020 was vacated and delayed due to Covid-19.
On June 23, 2020 a sentencing hearing was called. The court informed the parties it would look into the issue of sentencing in absentia again and would provide the parties with an order regarding its decision.
According to the AG’s office, on July 21, 2020, the court reissued its bench warrant against Jiang Hong Sheng for failure to appear and set no bail.
Following that order, however, no other directive was issued by the court so the government renewed its request for sentencing in September 2020.
