James Robert Kingman
ASSISTANT Attorney General James Robert Kingman on Wednesday filed with the Superior Court a notice of appearance by the Office of the Attorney General in the motion/evidentiary hearing today, Feb. 15, 2024, on one of the two civil actions that Rota businesswoman Abelina Mendiola filed against the OAG for issuing subpoenas to obtain her confidential banking information.
Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho issued temporary restraining orders for the two civil actions.
In his notice of appearance, Kingman said “without conceding any of the factual assertions or legal arguments made by plaintiff, defendants are not objecting to the TRO as ordered by Judge N. Camacho on February 9, 2024.”
“We will seek a scheduling order for briefs on the issues at the appearance on February 15, 2024, and be prepared to answer or argue what questions the Court has regarding this matter,” Kingman added.
Also on Wednesday, the CNMI Superior Court issued a witness summons to its clerk of court, Patrick Diaz, ordering him to appear at 10 a.m. on Feb. 15, 2024, in Courtroom 220A to testify.
According to the summons, failure to comply may constitute the crime of contempt of court, and a warrant may be issued for Diaz’s arrest.
It was Diaz who issued the subpoenas to Mendiola pursuant to the OAG’s applications. The subpoenas had no accompanying case numbers.
According to Mendiola’s lawyer, Keith Chambers, “The subpoenas are not relevant or admissible because there is currently no criminal case to which they can be relevant or admissible.”
He said “the subpoenas also do not articulate what specific crime or crimes allegedly took place.”
Mendiola is the principal of DFS Enterprises and one of the officials of Luta Mermaid LLC, the owner of the controversial MV Luta, which owes the CNMI government $400,000.
