Visiting federal Judge William Q. Hayes heard the arguments of Melvin David Diaz’s court-appointed defense attorney Joseph Horey and Assistant U.S. Attorney James Benedetto, the prosecutor.
The court said an order will be forthcoming.
Diaz, who has denied the charges, was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service after the hearing last week.
Federal crimes must be prosecuted in the judicial district in which they occur, Benedetto told the court.
Benedetto noted that Diaz is currently detained at the CNMI Department of Corrections facility.
Many of the U.S. government’s witnesses are also in the commonwealth including the FBI case agent, the doctor and nurse, a Public School System official, and two other witnesses.
Benedetto said the minor victim and her family have recently relocated to Guam.
“The location of events is mixed, in the some of the events occurred on Rota and some of them on Guam,” Benedetto added.
Benedetto said most of the documents and records likely to be involved are located in the CNMI.
On Guam, Diaz said he can provide a custodian or other security as the court might require in order to secure his release pending trial, “and thereby maintain his employment and continue the support of his children.”
But Benedetto said no condition or combination of conditions will ensure Diaz’s appearance and the safety of the community based on legal presumption.
Guam-based witnesses will not be inconvenienced by a flight to Saipan, Benedetto said, adding there are relatively few cases on the trial calendar in the federal court on Saipan compared to Guam’s “relatively crowded docket.”
“In sum, none of the…factors are decisive for either venue. [T]he charges were appropriately brought in the district court in which they occurred, pursuant to court rule and statute. The government is in the best position to determine how best to allocate its prosecutorial resources when there is a choice of appropriate venues,” Benedetto said.
