ATTORNEY Victorino DLG Torres, who represents his brother, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, has formally requested Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Alberto Tolentino to move the governor’s jury trial from Feb. 13, 2023 to June 2023.
The attorney filed the motion on Dec. 8, 2022.
At a status conference on Dec. 5, attorney Torres made a verbal request to have the trial moved to August 2023 because of a schedule conflict with his other client’s trial, but this was denied by Judge Tolentino.
In his motion for continuance of trial, attorney Torres told the court that he has a jury trial set for Feb. 14, 2023 in the District Court of Guam in the matter of Angeline Sablan vs. Core Tech Resort, LLC., doing business as Bayview Hotel and Oceanview Hotel and Residences, Civil Case No. 19-00138.
“That case has been pending since 2019 and was previously scheduled for trial in June 2022 but was moved by the court…. All the discovery and pretrial dispositive motions have been completed. There are multiple off-island witnesses and expert witnesses from the U.S. mainland that have already provided a written report,” the lawyer said.
Mediation was unsuccessful, he added.
“In an effort to free up the schedule, I attempted to move the trial date of Feb. 14, 2023 but the client is averse to moving the trial given her health condition, posture of the case and further costs in moving the trial,” he said.
He noted that during the pandemic, many of the cases that were not resolved and set for trial had to be moved.
“As a result, these overdue pending cases were scheduled for trial over the next several months. These cases have been pending long before the current case was filed,” he said.
In an effort to free up his schedule, he said he has communicated with the defense in another case, Goldsborough v. USA, and the parties have agreed to move the June 20, 2023 trial date.
As a result, attorney Torres said he would be able to have the governor’s case scheduled for trial on either June 5, 12, 19 or 26 “(preferably for June 5 or 12).”
He said he has made reasonable efforts to ensure availability for the trial and is requesting the court to move the trial date to June 2023 “or soon thereafter that is mutually available to the court and parties.”
In a declaration accompanying his motion, attorney Torres stated that he had communicated with the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General J. Robert Glass Jr., who informed him that the CNMI government is available anytime including in June 2023 should the court grant the request.
Attorney Torres said a continuance to June 2023 will not inconvenience the government. “We are unaware that a continuance will inconvenience any witness or the court,” he added.
He said he notified the court about the schedule conflict before the trial date was set.
“There have been no subpoenas issued in this matter and jurors have not been summoned, and no trial continuance has been previously requested,” attorney Torres said.
“Legitimate reasons exist for a continuance as defense counsel cannot be in two trials at the same time,” his motion stated.
“The requested continuance of four months is not a delay in the administration of justice and the request is through no fault of the defendant. Should the court set the matter for trial in June 2023, it would still be in line with other cases pending before the Commonwealth Superior Court.”
Lastly, “a denial would prejudice [Governor] Torres as he will not be able to have his lead counsel available for trial; lead counsel has been intimately involved in defense preparation. As a result, defendant’s ability to retain lead counsel would be compromised. The 6th Amendment allows [Governor] Torres the right to retain the private counsel of his choice to represent him,” his lawyer said.
For his part, the prosecutor, J. Robert Glass Jr., has told the court that he has proposed a plea bargain agreement with the defendant.
“The offer stands until December 31,” Glass added.
On April 8, 2022, the AG’s office filed a criminal case against the 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 governor has denied the charges.
In September, Judge Tolentino dismissed without prejudice the contempt charge against the governor. Without prejudice means it can be re-filed.
According to the judge, he found “impermissible exposure to privileged and confidential information that prevents Glass from prosecuting Governor Torres for Count XIV (Contempt).”
Attorneys Viola Alepuyo, Anthony Aguon, and Matthew Holley are also representing the governor whose term ends in January 2023.
