CHIEF Solicitor J. Robert Glass Jr. has asked the CNMI Supreme Court to deny the motion of former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres to reconsider the pro hac vice admission of special prosecutor James Robert Kingman.
“Pro hac vice” is a Latin term that means “for this occasion” or “for this particular purpose.” It refers to the practice of allowing an attorney who is not licensed in a particular jurisdiction to appear in court in that jurisdiction for a specific case or matter.
The AG’s office hired Kingman, a private attorney from Texas, to assist in prosecuting Torres.
“Criminal defendants lack standing to challenge the selection of a prosecutor because they do not have a legally protected interest in choosing who prosecutes them,” Glass said.
He said Torres “has not suffered any injury, nor would he suffer any injury based on the admission of an attorney to practice law within a specific case. The standing to contest becomes even more attenuated in the present circumstance where Defendant is attempting to choose his prosecutor by challenging the admission of the prosecuting attorney.”
Here, Glass added, “there is no injury, much less one that is traceable to the actions of the Commonwealth.”
“Defendant’s perceived injury is that the Attorney General lacks power to appoint a special prosecutor. Defendant is simply incorrect in this assertion,” Glass said.
“It has consistently been Mr. Torres’ position that this case should be handled by an independent special prosecutor,” Glass said.
But “this ‘consistent position’ is belied by defendant’s continued attack on the appointment of the special prosecutor by his present motion before this court, by filing numerous motions attacking the appointment of the special prosecutor in the Superior Court criminal case, and his request for the Secretary of Finance to cancel the special prosecutor’s contract, said the prosecutor,” Glass said.
“If defendant wishes for an independent special prosecutor, attacking that prosecutor in every available venue is certainly disingenuous at best. Defendant should not be allowed to make requests to the NMI Superior Court and to the Office of the Attorney General, then turn around and attack the very thing he requested. Defendant requested a special prosecutor, and he now has one. He should be judicially estopped from arguing to the contrary,” Glass said.
Torres, moreover, has no authority to file a motion to reconsider, Glass said.
As for Kingman’s pro hac vice application, it “is not deficient,” Glass added.
“The pro hac vice application of Mr. Kingman meets the standards as provided by NMI Supreme Court Rule 73-1.
“Mr. Kingman included a statement of need for why the Commonwealth sought his services — based on his ‘long history of prosecutorial experience, including public corruption and white-collar crime….’
“There was no doubt that the underlying criminal case centers on public corruption charges,” Glass said.
“The Constitutional duty to prosecute violations of Commonwealth law requires a special prosecutor and that is sufficient need for the client — the people of the Commonwealth,” Glass said.
“Further, defendant thought such a statement was sufficient for his own pro hac attorney. The application of Mr. (Ross) Garber to represent Mr. Torres as his attorney for the Office of the Governor only stated the necessity as a specialized need in specific litigation.
“Mr. Kingman’s application is no different as he has specific experience in public corruption prosecution and such a need was specified in his application,” Glass said.
“Mr. Kingman was duly admitted as a special prosecutor on a pro hac vice basis to represent the Commonwealth in the criminal prosecution of the Commonwealth v. Ralph Torres, Criminal Case No. 22-0050. This Court used its plenary power to admit Mr. Kingman after finding he met the requirements for pro hac vice admission.”
Glass said because “defendant lacks standing, has requested a special prosecutor for his case, did not follow his own arguments as to service, untimely made his filing, and lacks merit to his arguments, his Motion to Reconsider should be denied.”
The Office of the Attorney General has charged the governor with 12 counts of misconduct in public office and one count of theft relating to the issuance of airline tickets for business class, first class, or other premium class travel for himself and/or Diann T. Torres, his wife.
The AG’s office also alleged one count of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a legislative subpoena.
Represented by attorneys Viola Alepuyo, Victorino DLG Torres, Matthew Holley and Anthony Aguon, the former governor has denied the charges. His jury trial will start on June 5, 2023.
