THE defense team of former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on Wednesday, stated that the CNMI Supreme Court’s ruling on the pro hac vice reconsideration motion resolved a few unclear issues regarding the pro hac vice admission process.
“However, the decision does not resolve the issues of the validity of the special prosecutor contract under the Commonwealth procurement regulations or whether the Attorney General possesses the power and authority to appoint a special prosecutor, especially when the Attorney General has a conflict of interest in the underlying litigation,” the defense team stated.
These two outstanding issues are currently before the Superior Court and, in all likelihood, may very well come before the Supreme Court in the future, they added.
On Wednesday, the high court denied Torres’ motion to reconsider the pro hac vice admission of Special Prosecutor James Robert Kingman.
In an order, Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro, Justice John A. Manglona and Justice Perry B. Inos said: “We find no material deficiencies in the application which warrants revoking Kingman’s admission to practice pro hac vice.”
They said “circumstances warranting the revocation of a pro hac vice admission usually involve an act of wrongdoing by the admitted lawyer.”
“Here,” they added, “there is no evidence or allegations of misconduct by Kingman. The application included a certificate demonstrating Kingman is in good standing in Texas. We find no material deficiency warranting the revocation of Kingman’s admission. There has not been an intervening change of controlling law, new evidence, or any clear error or manifest injustice.”
According to the defense team: “The Supreme Court correctly notes that the motion did not accuse James Kingman of any improper conduct. Instead, the motion was based solely on deficiencies associated with the procedure for a pro hac vice admission. While the Court acknowledged that the pro hac vice application suffered from some procedural deficiencies as Torres asserted, the deficiencies were not deemed material enough to warrant reconsideration of the pro hac vice admission.”
Most importantly, though, the defense team stated, “the court ruled that a party in the underlying litigation, like Torres, has standing to object to or contest a pro hac vice application or admission despite the prosecution’s argument that Torres lacked standing.”
“Equally important, the ruling indicates that a party with standing can challenge a pro hac vice admission if the attorney with a pro hac vice admission engages in misconduct at any time during the period of the pro hac vice admission. This suggests that the conduct and action of an attorney admitted pro hac vice is limited to the scope of the pro hac vice admission,” Torres’ attorneys stated.
“In this case, the Supreme Court granted pro hac vice admission solely for criminal case number 22-0050. It did not grant admission for any other purpose. Thus, despite the scope of the duties set forth in the contract the Office of the Attorney General signed with James Kingman, the special prosecutor’s duties are limited to criminal case #22-0050 and trying to expand his power and authority to matters beyond the scope of criminal case #22-0050 falls outside the parameters of the pro hac vice admission and may constitute misconduct,” the defense team stated.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling that denied their client’s reconsideration motion, the defense team said Torres is “pleased with the court indicating that he has standing to challenge the special prosecutor’s pro hac vice admission if the special prosecutor engages in improper conduct.”
Pro hac vice refers to a temporary admission granted to an attorney who is not licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction but is allowed to appear in a specific case or proceeding within that jurisdiction.
Torres is represented by attorneys Viola Alepuyo, Victorino DLG Torres, Matthew Holley and Anthony Aguon.
The Office of the Attorney General hired Kingman, a private attorney from Texas, to assist in the prosecution of the misconduct in public office case against Torres relating to first class travel.
On March 6, 2023, the local Supreme Court granted the application for pro hac vice of Kingman to act as a special prosecutor in Superior Court Case No. 22-0050, Commonwealth v. Ralph Anthony DLG Torres.
The high court also waived the $5,000 pro hac vice admission fee.
Kingman, whose pro hac vice admission will expire after a year, will work with the lead prosecutor, Chief Solicitor J. Robert Glass Jr.
The Office of the Attorney General has charged the former 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.
The former governor has denied the charges.
