ATTORNEY Brien Sers Nicholas has asked the Superior Court to dismiss the sexual assault case against his 17-year-old client whose right to a speedy trial, he said, was violated.
Nicholas also asked the court to suppress any evidence seized from defendant Kenneth Thomas Blas Kaipat, including DNA evidence that may be used against him at his trial.
Kaipat was charged with three counts of sexual assault in the first degree, two counts of sexual assault in the second degree, aggravated assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, strangulation, and burglary.
The alleged incident happened on June 2, 2019 at a San Vicente residence.
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho, who found probable cause to charge Kaipat last month, has recused himself from presiding over the case, which has been reassigned to Judge Wesley Bogdan.
In his motion to dismiss, Nicholas stated that some “12 months and two days” had passed since Kaipat’s initial arrest, but there is still no trial date, “much less a trial, contrary to his constitutional right to a speedy trial.”
The delay is “attributed wholly to the Commonwealth and no one [else],” Nicholas said.
“Matters only got worse for [Kaipat] when the juvenile court relinquished its jurisdiction over the defendant as a juvenile, resulting in full blown media reporting of this case to the public,” the lawyer added. “The facts of this case are not good and while the defendant is presumed innocent (he is actually innocent), the bad publicity did not make and has not made his life any easier, especially when he was on campus for school. There is no reason to believe that things will change for the better unless he [the defendant] has his day in court and is proven to be innocent of all the baseless criminal charges against him in this case by the Commonwealth…. The foregoing delay has prejudiced and continues to prejudice the defendant in this case,” Nicholas said.
As for his motion to suppress evidence, Nicholas said the government needed to obtain a search warrant before seizing any saliva samples from Kaipat. “This same analysis applies equally to the fingernail swabs seized from the defendant as well. A search warrant was required in this regard as well, but none was obtained from this court,” Nicholas added.
He said that contrary to the statements of the detective, there was never any consent from the defendant’s parents for the government to search and seize from Kaipat the evidence that the defense wants suppressed.
Kaipat’s parents filed two separate affidavits stating that they had not given the police consent to obtain any DNA from their son.
Nicholas also filed a cross-motion for contempt against Chief Prosecutor John Bradley and Assistant Attorney General Samantha Vickery. He said they should be held in contempt of court for their “scandalous accusations” against the court.
Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja has assigned the motion for contempt of court to Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo who has not yet scheduled a hearing.
