DESPITE the defense’s objection, Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja granted the CNMI government’s request to change the date of Shayne Villanueva’s bench trial.
Villanueva was charged with contempt after he invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a House special committee hearing.
His trial was previously set for Sept. 24, 2024 but after hearing from the parties, Judge Naraja scheduled it for Nov. 6-8, 2024.
At the hearing on Tuesday, Villanueva was not present, but he was represented by his attorney, Keith Chambers, who told the court that it would take the defense about three days to present the case.
Assistant Attorney General James Robert Kingman appeared for the CNMI government and said it would take him one day to present his case.
Judge Naraja also scheduled a Daubert hearing for Aug. 27.
A Daubert hearing is a pretrial proceeding where the admissibility of expert witness testimony is evaluated.
The expert witness background, testimony report and the basis for their conclusion will be submitted on Aug. 15, the judge said.
He likewise scheduled a pretrial conference for Oct. 22 at 9 a.m.
The defense said its expert witnesses are Guam attorneys Phillip James Tydingco and Leonardo M. Rapadas whose areas of expertise are criminal law, criminal procedure and constitutional law.
On July 18, Kingman requested the court for an alternate trial date.
“The Commonwealth does not need more time,” he said. “It can be tried the last week of August, before I am off-island, or as soon as the week of October 11 when I return. I do not think that it should take more than a day,” Kingman stated in his motion.
He said his “scheduled travel in September is for two weddings, one for my partner’s sister in Texas and the other for close, lifelong friends in Mexico, and for medical treatment not available on the island.”
Chambers said, “Moving the trial date forward to August … would materially interfere with both Mr. Villanueva’s preparation for trial and several of the deadlines that the court set in the pretrial order.”
The defense also opposes moving the trial to October or any other later date because Villanueva “is asserting his right to a speedy trial and the trial date was known or should have been known by the prosecution when Mr. Kingman submitted his off-island request.”
At the hearing on Tuesday, Judge Naraja did not address the defense motions, which he earlier placed under advisement.
These are:
1) “Motion to Dismiss on the Right to Assert Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination to all BOOST-Related Questions Posed by the Special Committee on Federal Assistance and Disaster-Related Funding and to the Particular Questions at Issue Here”;
2) “Motion to Dismiss on the Grounds that the Special Committee on Federal Assistance and Disaster-Related Funding Violated [the defendant’s] Right to Counsel Under 1 CMC § 1303(a) During the Investigative Hearing”; and
3) the “Motion to Strike Certain Portions of the Information Pursuant to Rule 7(d) of the Commonwealth Rules of Criminal Procedure.”
Villanueva is the owner of Roil Soil Marketing, which the administration of then-Gov. Ralph DLG Torres contracted to help market and promote the BOOST program in 2022. BOOST stands for “Building Optimism, Opportunities and Stability Together,” a $17 million federally funded program of the previous administration.
On March 5, 2024, Villanueva appeared before the House Special Committee on Federal Assistance & Disaster-Related Funding, and invoked his Fifth Amendment right when asked questions about BOOST.
On March 22, 2024, Villanueva self-surrendered at the Department of Corrections after an arrest warrant was issued against him for contempt. He posted a $1,000 bail for his release.
During an arraignment on April 2, 2024, Villanueva pled not guilty to the charge of contempt of Legislature.
