SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo has denied the Office of the Attorney General’s request to approve the amended charges against Rep. Vicente C. Camacho and co-defendant Teipo Nikiti for their involvement in a domestic violence incident last year in Chinatown.
Camacho, 61, and Teipo Nikiti, 21, are accused of assaulting Steven Koch on Oct. 29, 2021.
Last year each defendant was charged by the AG’s office with assault and battery, and disturbing the peace. The charges were considered misdemeanors.
On March 30, 2022, Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds told the court that the government wanted to charge Camacho with “Count I: Aggravated Assault and Battery, in violation of 6 CMC 1203(a); Count II: Strangulation, in violation of 6 CMC 14689(a)(1), and Count III: Disturbing the Peace, in violation of 6 CMC 3101(a).”
As for Nikiti, the government wanted to charge him with “Count I: Aggravated Assault and Battery, in violation of 6 CMC 1203(a); and Count II: Disturbing the Peace, in violation of 6 CMC 3101(a).”
After careful review of the evidence, and additional investigation conducted by the Office of the AG and the Department of Public Safety, Hinds said information filed on Nov. 10, 2021 must be amended to reflect the actions of the defendants on the night of Oct. 29, 2021.
At a hearing on June 23, 2022 both defendants appeared out of custody. Camacho was represented by attorney Michael White while Nikiti was represented by assistant public defender Vina Seelam.
Judge Govendo told the prosecutor that “rather than amend the information, you can refile and file felony charges…it’s not too late to do that…and it would allow both defendants to have a preliminary hearing.”
“I consider this motion [for additional charges] to be prejudicial, in the sense that it grew from a misdemeanor to a felony,” the judge added.
He also said it was unclear how Koch and Camacho are related.
Hinds, in response, said, “In regards to strangulation, the statute applies if they are related through marriage. And they are related by marriage. The victim in this case is married to the defendant’s cousin.”
For his part, White said “the government’s motion initially and specifically [stated] that the defendant and the alleged victim are household members because they are ‘adults who are related to each other to the 4th degree of consanguinity.’ There is no consanguinity here, [which] requires blood relationships; a common ancestor, which there is none.”
White said the focus of the statute is “people related to each other by marriage — to each other, not through third parties.”
Ruling from the bench, Judge Govendo said the information against the defendants “cannot be amended,” but the prosecution “can refile new information.”
The judge added, “I will put it in a written decision Mr. Hinds…and you can make up your mind what you want to do with it…whether you want to refile a brand new case…or whether you want to appeal.”
In his motion to amend the information filed against the defendants, Hinds said: “The victim (Koch) has suffered serious bodily/psychological injury due to the actions of the defendants and the information should be amended to reflect those actions. Mr. Koch, as evidenced by his medical records and examinations, has sustained serious bodily/psychological injury, after the night of Oct. 29. On the night of this incident, Mr. Koch was punched multiple times and the defendant pinned his knee on Mr. Koch’s neck causing him to lose consciousness.”
Hinds said they want to charge Camacho with strangulation because the defendant pinned his knee on the neck of the victim, “impeding normal breath or circulation of Koch, causing him to not be able to breathe and may have rendered him unconscious.”
Camacho was arrested by the Department of Public Safety in the evening of Nov. 2, 2021, but he immediately posted bail in the amount of $1,250 and is out of custody.
Koch suffered abrasions, bruising, and pain on his head and body from the blows, and was taken to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation for examination.
On Nov. 1, 2021, Koch, his wife and daughter asked the Superior Court to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent Camacho and three other individuals “from engaging in any further physical harm, disturbance, harassment, blocking, threats and verbal abuse.”
The petitioners were represented by attorney Charity Hodson.
On Nov. 12, 2021, Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho found cause for domestic violence, and granted temporary restraining order and one-year protective order against Rep. Vicente Castro Camacho, Ignacio “Ike” S. Concepcion, Fiel Reynaldo Ortiz, and Tiepo A. Nikiti.
“This order of protection shall continue in effect for a period of one year unless extended or dissolved by the court in writing and shall expire on Nov. 8, 2022,” Judge Camacho stated.
The incident, which stemmed from a long-standing animosity between Koch and his brother-in-law, Concepcion, took place near the homes of Koch and Concepcion on Freedom Drive, Chinatown around 11 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2021.
Vicente C. Camacho
