CITING the 3rd degree familial relationship threshold of the law, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho on Friday denied the Office of the Attorney General’s motion to recuse or disqualify himself from hearing the case against a 17-year-old defendant who was charged with sexual assault and other crimes.
Judge Camacho also denied the Office of the AG’s request to vacate the preliminary hearing.
For his part, the defendant’s attorney said Chief Prosecutor John Bradley and Assistant Attorney General Samantha Vickery should be held in contempt of court for their “scandalous accusations” against the court.
Judge Camacho said he will “take the issue under advisement to allow the government attorneys to file a written response.”
According to the AG’s office, “The defendant’s mother has a close personal relationship to Judge Camacho’s brother.”
But the judge said this “does not fall within the 3rd degree of familial relationship that requires a judge to recuse from a case.”
“I do not know the defendant’s mother,” the judge added.
At the hearing held Friday afternoon, defendant Thomas Kenneth Blas Kaipat appeared out of custody and was represented by attorney Brien Sers Nicholas.
The case was previously assigned to the juvenile court but was recently transferred to the adult court, allowing all records regarding the case available — and hearings open — to the public.
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 occurred in a San Vicente home in June 2019 when the defendant was 16 years old.
A year later, the juvenile suspect was arrested and charged after local authorities received a DNA laboratory test report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The defense attorney, Brien Sers Nicholas, said the Office of the AG’s “scandalous arguments against Judge Camacho have put to rest beyond any reasonable doubt that plaintiff have indeed acted in bad faith and in a vindictive manner in this case, the foregoing now being turned also against a sitting associate judge of the judiciary of this Commonwealth.”
Nicholas said the prosecution’s arguments “are so factually and legally misplaced that one is at lost as to how such scandalous arguments can be made… by anyone who claims to be a sworn officer of the judiciary.”
Nicholas accused Bradley of “talking to the media not once but twice about this case while it was still a juvenile matter.”
Nicholas likewise accused Bradley of “condoning and permitting Vickery in making arguments about Judge Camacho being biased against sexual assault victims and [of] not follow[ing] the law” which is comparable to “accusing the court of this Commonwealth of being unfair and corrupt.”
“The government cannot be made to escape from the foregoing scandalous accusations,” Nicholas added.
“As strange as it sounds as it is coming from a defense lawyer, the AG’s office criminal division, is also made up of good people, the support staff and the attorneys. They do not deserve to be put in the same sad light all because of the actions and arguments in this case…of Bradley and Vickery.”
The prosecution, for its part, called the victim’s father, a DPS official, to testify regarding the government motion to disqualify Judge Camacho from the case.
The father said “the mother of the defendant is close to Judge Camacho’s brother.”
Tinian Detective Dennis Borja also testified for the prosecution.
He stated that Judge Camacho did not call him regarding a complaint of a four-year-old child who alleged that she was touched inappropriately by a caregiver.
As it was already 4:30 p.m. when the court completed addressing the government’s motion, Judge Camacho granted the defense attorney’s request to move the preliminary hearing to May 25.
He earlier granted the request of the defense to reduce and modify bail from $250,000 to $50,000 after the defense put up a property bond.
The judge also placed Kaipat under house arrest, and appointed his parents as third-party custodians.
