Shortly after Wiseman concluded the preliminary hearing yesterday morning, court-appointed defense attorneys for Joseph Cabrera Camacho Jr., 31, and Alfred P. Hocog, 17, moved for their subsequent arraignment.
Camacho and Hocog, who will be tried as an adult, both denied charges of kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, sexual assault in the first degree, conspiracy to commit sexual assault in the first degree, aggravated assault and battery, and disturbing the peace.
Hocog will turn 18 this Aug. 30.
During the hearing, Wiseman heard the testimony of Detective Melissa Bauleong.
Assistant Attorney General Brian D. Gallagher is prosecuting the case against Camacho, Hocog, Angel Jess Santos, 21, and Ivan Jones Castro, 33.
As Bauleong was testifying, the victim’s family members in the courtroom were teary-eyed. One of them later left the room so she could cry outside.
Some of the relatives of the defendants were shaking their heads as the detective narrated the details of the crime.
Defense attorneys Richard W. Pierce, who represented Camacho, and Jack Torres, who served as Hocog’s counsel, tried to demolish Bauleong’s testimony.
Pierce described Santos as a “known liar.”
When asked by Wiseman how Pierce arrived at such a conclusion, the defense attorney said the two testimonies of Santos were “diametrically opposed” to each other.
Santos “lied to the police,” Pierece said, adding that the defendant’s first statement in June indicated there were three defendants.
After a month, Pierce said, Santos said there were four defendants which included his client, Camacho.
Pierce told the court that Santos got a “sweetheart deal” with the CNMI government when the defendant signed a plea agreement on Aug. 2.
Santos pleaded guilty to the offense of conspiracy to commit sexual assault.
Wiseman, however, reminded Pierce that “there’s no deal before the court.”
Torres, for his part, said there was no evidence that the four defendants, including his client Hocog, planned the kidnapping and rape of the victim
The jury trial was scheduled for Nov. 8, 2010.
Santos, Castro, Camacho and Hocog remained in the custody of the Department of Corrections.
A $100,000 cash bail has been imposed on each of them.
