THE jury trial of 60-year-old Jin Keun Kim will begin Monday, Sept. 13, 2021, before Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio
According to the first amended information filed against the defendant, “between July 2019 and November 2019, on Saipan, [Jin Keun Kim] unlawfully took the property of Hyun Corporation, dba CJ Apartments, with intent to permanently deprive the owner of its rights to the property, to wit: U.S. currency, said property having a value of more than…$250 and less than…$20,000, in violation of 6 CMC § 1601(a) or 1607(a), and made punishable by 6 CMC §§ 1601(b)(2) and 4101(b)” which carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, $5,000 fine, or both.
Jin Keun Kim is represented by court-appointed attorney Anthony Aguon who recently asked the court to appoint an interpreter for his client.
“The right of a criminal defendant with limited English proficiency to an interpreter is a right implied in the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution,” Aguon said.
“The rights of a criminal defendant to due process, equal protection and a fair trial would be substantially hampered, if not completely denied, if a defendant were not able to understand the nature of the charges against him and the meaning of the criminal proceedings,” Aguon added.
He said his client has already been found indigent by the court which has appointed a legal counsel for the defendant.
“Defendant does have a limited understanding of the English language, but is fluent in the Korean language. In order to protect his rights and to fully understand the criminal proceedings against him next week, defendant is hereby requesting a Korean interpreter,” Aguon said.
Judge Kim-Tenorio has granted the request.
No other information about the case was available as of press time Sunday evening.
