FORMER Gov. Ralph DLG Torres traveled on behalf of the government and for a government purpose, and denies having any criminal intent, his defense attorney Viola Alepuyo said.
The Office of the Attorney General must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Torres had the intent to commit the act, and did in fact commit the acts, that constitute the crime of misconduct in public office, Alepuyo added.
“This intent is called the Mens Rea,” she said.
According to an online legal dictionary, mens rea refers to criminal intent. “The literal translation from Latin is ‘guilty mind.’ A mens rea refers to the state of mind statutorily required in order to convict a particular defendant of a particular crime.”
Torres, through Alepuyo, attorneys Victorino DLG Torres, Matthew Holley and Anthony Aguon, has asked the court to clarify and clearly define the mens rea standard required for the Office of the Attorney General to prove its charges of misconduct in office and of violating 1 CMC § 7407.
The defense also requested the court to disqualify special prosecutor James Robert Kingman, and reconsider its previous order denying the motion for the Office of the Attorney General to withdraw or be disqualified as prosecutor.
On Friday, Alepuyo, on behalf of the former governor’s defense team, issued a statement when asked about the two motions they filed in the case.
“This statement is issued at the request from the media and does not address all of the arguments raised in the motions filed on behalf of Mr. Torres on April 6, 2023,” Alepuyo said.
According to Alepuyo, “On June 6, 2022, the [defense] Team filed a Motion to Dismiss the Information against Mr. Torres because the Commonwealth failed to allege the proper Mens Rea. The court denied the Team’s motion but also did not provide clear guidance on what Mens Rea the Commonwealth must prove. Just as important, because it is still not clear what Mens Rea is required to be convicted of Misconduct in Public Office, the Team is unable to prepare for his defense.”
She said the “failure to clearly provide the Mens Rea, or the intent, is a violation of the Constitution, laws and case laws. Therefore, the Team is requesting the court to reconsider its position and further, to provide clear guidance what Mens Rea the Commonwealth must prove in the case against Mr. Torres.”
As to their motion for reconsideration of the order granting in part and denying in part defendant’s motion for Office of the Attorney General to withdraw or be disqualified as prosecutor, Alepuyo said, “The Team’s position has always been that the Attorney General was the Governor’s attorney responsible for providing him with legal guidance. As such, the AG cannot represent a client, and then turn around and prosecute that same client right after.”
However, the OAG’s position is that AG Manibusan does not have to be disqualified because he has been “screened” out of this case and is not involved in any way, Alepuyo said.
The defense on May 2, 2022, filed a motion for the Office of the Attorney General to withdraw or be disqualified as prosecutor of this case.
On Aug. 23, 2022, Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Alberto Tolentino granted in part and denied in part the motion. The court dismissed Count XIV of the information, but denied the former governor’s request to disqualify the OAG from prosecuting Counts I to XIII.
Alepuyo said the defense team filed the motion for reconsideration because the court should not have relied on House Legislative Initiative 17-2 to deny the motion.
Rather, the defense contends that the court should have relied on the Analysis of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and CNMI Supreme Court cases, she added.
In addition, the defense is respectfully requesting the court to reconsider its decision to hold that the attorneys employed by the OAG be subject to and in compliance with the Model Rules of Professional Conduct as held by the CNMI Supreme Court in various other cases, Alepuyo said.
During the hearing to disqualify the OAG from prosecuting this case, the prosecutors and Attorney General Edward Manibusan represented to the court that AG Manibusan was “walled off” from the case because he was Mr. Torres’s attorney when he was Governor,” she said.
“As such, the court denied the defense’s request to disqualify the OAG from prosecuting this case based on the assurances that the OAG had a screen in place whereby only Mr. Glass and Mr. Kessel, the attorneys prosecuting this case, had access to the case file,” Alepuyo said.
Recently, the OAG hired a special prosecutor, James Robert Kingman, to assist in the prosecution of former Gov. Torres.
“It was AG Manibusan who negotiated the agreement for legal services with the special prosecutor. It was also AG Manibusan who instructed the Department of Finance to process and release the special prosecutor’s retainer paid for by public funds. In addition, the special prosecutor is supposed to report directly to AG Manibusan. These facts, and more, show that AG Manibusan is not screened off the case,” Alepuyo said.
The former governor was charged by the AG’s office 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 case also alleged one count of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a legislative subpoena.
Former Gov. Torres has denied the charges.
