CHIEF Justice Miguel S. Demapan and Associate Justice John A. Manglona have recused themselves from the Bank of Saipan receivership proceedings.
Following the recusal, former Chief Justice Marty W. K. Taylor and Guam Presiding Judge Alberto C. Lamorena were appointed by the high court to hear the receivership matter as justices pro tempore.
Castro, Taylor and Lamorena issued an order Thursday regarding Bank of Saipan, Inc.’s petition for writ of mandamus.
The justices said answers to the petition be filed no later than June 14. Upon receipt of the answers, the justices said the court would take the matter under advisement.
Castro, however, was the only available justice during Friday’s hearing on acting Commerce Secretary’s Fermin M. Atalig’s motion to vacate the high court’s order that removed attorney Randall T. Fennell as temporary receiver of Bank of Saipan.
Bank of Saipan, Inc., through the Calvo & Clark law firm, asked the CNMI Supreme Court to issue an order removing Fennell, vacate all orders issued by Superior Court Presiding Judge Edward Manibusan, and appoint a “non-conflicted receiver.”
Attorney Robert Goldberg of Calvo & Clark cited the “private briefing” of Manibusan by Fennell despite the bank’s written objections. He also described the receivership proceedings as “shocking.”
But Manibusan in his Friday’s order described Goldberg’s statements as “highly charged and overly exaggerated accusations.”
Richard W. Pierce, counsel for Fennell, in court papers filed in the Supreme Court, noted that attorney David Lujan’s sister works for Lamorena.
Lujan sits on the bank’s board of directors as the representative of JHL Pacific Trust, which wants Fennell removed as receiver.
