Inos issued his written ruling on the motions filed by Assistant Public Defender Richard Miller and Robert Torres who represent defendants Tian Gu Xue and Bao Hong Yin.
Assistant Attorney General Elchonon Golob is prosecuting the case.
“The defendants must establish a particularized showing of need for the expert assistance. Mere assertions that the assistance of the expert would be useful to the defense are inadequate. In addition, it is not reasonable to request a retest of the prosecution’s evidence without some showing that a retest is warranted. Thus, defendants failed to demonstrate that the proposed expert assistance is reasonably necessary for their proper representation,” Inos said in his ruling.
“The court is not convinced that the general assertion of inconsistent and antagonistic defenses between the defendants requires a severance,” Inos added.
The defense lawyers asked the court to provide them with government paid forensic experts to assist in their defense.
The lawyers said “they needed the assistance of an expert to educate the defense counsel as well as conduct an independent analysis of the substance and provide testimony if necessary.”
The prosecution is waiting for the official test results from the Guam-based crime laboratory that examined the controlled substance seized from the defendants.
The controlled substance at issue was initially tested using a Narcotics Identification Test Kit with results being presumptive positive for crystal methamphetamine, the court said.
In moving for separate trials for Tian Gu Xue and Bao Hong Yin, the defense counsels said “trying [the defendants] together would be highly prejudicial to both of them.”
The defense lawyers also claimed that a “joint trial would deprive [Tian Gu Xue and Bao Hong Yin] of their Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights as well as their rights to fair trial, confrontation, and effective assistance of counsel.”
Tian Gu Xue and Bao Hong Yin were arrested last April and charged with two counts of trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit trafficking of “ice.”
Bao Hong Yin was additionally charged with two counts of illegal possession of controlled substance, court records showed.
Police said Tian Gu Xue was a major “ice” supplier in Papago.
