JUDGE Pro Tempore Arthur Barcinas asked Special Prosecutor James Robert Kingman about his intent to subpoena Bank of Guam to further investigate former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres in a misconduct in public office case.
At a motion hearing on Monday regarding the defense motion to quash the subpoena, Judge Barcinas asked Kingman whether he was disputing the defense team’s characterization of the subpoena as an investigative subpoena.
Kingman replied: “No, of course not….”
Judge Barcinas asked, “Are you suggesting to the court that you are still investigating the 13 charges originally before the court? Or are you investigating the charges laid before the proposed amended charges?”
“Right now, we are investigating the defendant’s course of conduct,” Kingman said.
The judge asked, “Why would you use personal bank records for investigation if it’s not related to the original 13 charges?”
“It is related your honor, whenever we are talking about the course of conduct of the defendant over years using documents for reimbursement, for travel, things that are connected to that, especially if it’s a claim amount, and the legitimacy of these types of expenses — these are all connected and it’s impossible to separate everything else,” Kingman said.
Noting the previous legislative investigation into Torres’ expenditure, Judge Barcinas said, “Much about these things have already been investigated [during the] legislative hearings…. Is the investigation then not complete?
Kingman said, “No, your honor it was not complete.”
“But the AG’s office filed these charges based on the legislative investigations…. How are these charges currently in trial if the investigation is not complete?” the judge asked.
“Is there not a prosecutor’s code of conduct? How would that play when these charges have been filed and the investigation is not complete? It is my understanding and often argued before me by prosecutors [that] our jobs are to do justice…so if this investigation is not complete and still ongoing…how can we say the defendant is on notice on the charges against him?”
Kingman said, “I just know that there are other parts to this, and we will be back in court with a different course of conduct later…. If we are going to prosecute this case, we should go into every aspect…and as I have been reviewing the documents in the last two months, it was clear that there are numerous documents referring to business records of banking information held by Bank of Guam in the name of the defendant.”
Preliminary order
On Wednesday, June 7, Judge Barcinas stayed the execution of the subpoena duces tecum issued to the Bank of Guam on or around May 9, 2023, until further notice from the court.
He ordered all parties involved, including the Bank of Guam, to refrain from taking any action to enforce or compel compliance with the subpoena duces tecum until the court has issued its order regarding the pending motion to quash.
Judge Barcinas took under advisement the motion to quash the subpoena duces tecum and stated that he will promptly issue an order “after which appropriate actions shall be taken in accordance with the court’s decision.”
Proposed trial date
Judge Barcinas asked the parties how much more time they needed to prepare for trial, given that the court had not yet ruled on the pending motions.
The judge said he wanted input from the parties before issuing a scheduling order for the pending motions, including the request to amend the charges against Torres and the defense motion to disqualify the special prosecutor.
The defense, through attorney Viola Alepuyo, proposed a trial date of April 2024, “to provide ample time for the court to rule on all pending motions in the case” and “prepare for trial.”
For his part, Special Prosecutor Kingman proposed a December 2023 trial date, but did not oppose an April 2024 trial date.
Judge Barcinas said he will issue an order on the schedule and allow the parties 10 days to respond.
Besides Alepuyo, attorneys Anthony Aguon, Matthew Holley, and Victorino Torres are representing the former governor.
The jury trial set for June 5, 2023, was earlier vacated by Judge Barcinas based on the parties’ requests and the judge’s own calendar and schedule.
The charges
On April 8, 2022, the CNMI Office of the Attorney General filed a criminal case against the former governor, alleging 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.
The former governor has denied the charges.
