HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A civil attorney has agreed to stay on a criminal case for a murderer needing to be sentenced again after appealing his conviction.
For almost a year now, Brandon Acosta has been waiting to be sentenced again for charges related to the death of 15-year-old Timicca Nauta.
According to Post files, Acosta was sentenced in 2020 after being convicted of the charges. However, after appealing the conviction, the Supreme Court determined the case needed to be remanded to the Superior Court to “conduct an included offense analysis, hold a hearing on the fine and sentence accordingly.”
Acosta, who in 2018 murdered and raped Nauta after a burglary perpetrated while under the influence of meth, was found guilty of a charge of murder, multiple charges of aggravated murder, first-, second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, manslaughter, home invasion, burglary and aggravated assault.
In the Supreme Court’s opinion, the justices determined Acosta’s life sentence came from all charges being “merged.”
According to Guam law, a defendant can be prosecuted for several crimes that stem from the same conduct, but cannot be convicted of multiple crimes. And merging the sentences for those crimes is improper.
Attorney
On Monday, attorney Georgette Bello Concepcion appeared on behalf of Acosta and explained to Judge Vernon Perez that she was willing to stay on the case despite it being a criminal case, which Concepcion usually doesn’t handle.
“I do not do criminal cases. But because this one is post-judgment, so I wouldn’t have to go back to trial. And it’s more of these legal arguments. I am willing (to) not move the court to withdraw,” Concepcion said before requesting confirmation on what her role would be.
“I just need to know what it is I am supposed to do. … Am I supposed to file a brief with the court?” Concepcion asked before Perez said she was correct.
“The court is going to sentence him, but consistent with what the mandate had, or the decision had upstairs. It seems mostly a formality, but still, he needed counsel in order for me to do that,” Perez responded.
As a result, Acosta’s case will be brought back in mid-January 2024, according to Perez.
Before Concepcion’s appointment, Acosta was being represented by attorney James Spivey, who was on the private attorney panel for indigent defendants for the Judiciary. Spivey, according to Post files, died in October.
Life sentence
According to Post files, in a March hearing for Acosta, Perez explained Acosta still will be sentenced to life in prison.
“Significantly, the sentence portion that addresses a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole will remain. It will not change,” Perez said. “There has to be a further assessment on the ability to pay, among other things, but there’s some of the charges may necessarily need to have a change in status, whether it’s potentially dismissal of some of the multiple charges that were listed in the judgment or the merger and the sentencing for those particular other changes.”
Brandon Acosta sits inside the Superior Court of Guam for sentencing in August 2020.
