Chupwei Toier Willy, 36, was charged with assault and battery, and child abuse, and will be sentenced next month. He is currently out on bail.
Assistant Attorney General Eli D. Golob, the prosecutor, said they were “happy with the results of the case.”
“We disagree with the verdict but respect’s the judge’s decision,” Assistant Public Defender Richard Miller, who represented Willy, told the Variety.
Miller is hoping that lawmakers would change the current child abuse/neglect law in the CNMI “to afford a defendant a jury trial instead of a bench trial.”
“For such serious charges, a jury of his peers is afforded for a defendant in the states except the CNMI,” Miller said.
He said in the states, a defendant who is facing possible jail time will undergo jury trial.
In the CNMI, Miller said the law allows either a bench or jury trial for a defendant.
On June 9, 2009, the Attorney General’s Office said Willy repeatedly struck his daughter with coat hangers in her shoulders, back, and legs, “and by doing so caused large and obvious bruising on the child’s body.”
