By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
AFTER ruling that the prosecution failed to follow required criminal procedures, the Superior Court on Monday dismissed without prejudice all misconduct-in-public-office charges against Lt. Gov. Dennis James C. Mendiola and co-defendants Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services Lt. Justin Paul Mizutani and CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management employee Joey Vincent Dela Cruz. A dismissal without prejudice means the charges may be refiled.
Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho granted the Office of the Attorney General’s motion to dismiss during a Jan. 26 hearing, formally vacating all future court dates. The ruling followed a series of procedural missteps by the prosecution, including the failure to file a court-ordered bill of particulars and the improper filing of an amended charging document.
Assistant Attorney General Olga Kelley told the court she would move to dismiss the case by the end of the business day. In her motion to dismiss without prejudice, Kelley stated that the Commonwealth believed the first amended information fully complied with the court’s order for a bill of particulars and that it was not required to submit a separate motion for leave to amend, as required by Rule 7(e) of the Commonwealth Rules of Criminal Procedure.
In a written order issued Monday afternoon, Judge Camacho emphasized that the government “ignored the Court’s Order” to file a bill of particulars by Jan. 5 and instead submitted a first amended information on Dec. 31 with “additional and different charges.”
The judge found that the prosecution misunderstood the distinction between a bill of particulars and an amended information, noting that the two filings serve “distinct legal functions.” A bill of particulars, he wrote in the three-page order, clarifies existing charges, while an amended information replaces the original charging document entirely. Kelley acknowledged in court that she had no prior experience with bills of particulars.
To illustrate the point, Judge Camacho offered an analogy during the hearing: “If a person in the construction industry was asking what the essential ingredients of concrete are, and instead of providing the answer, the person brings a stack of plywood and tin roof.”
The defendants were originally charged in Aug. 2025 with six counts of misconduct in public office and theft tied to the alleged misuse of public funds and unauthorized vehicle rentals. The charges stemmed from a Public Integrity Task Force investigation into conduct dating back to 2022.
On Dec. 17, Judge Camacho granted Mendiola’s request for a bill of particulars, ruling that the original information lacked sufficient detail for the defense to understand the allegations or prepare for trial. Instead of providing the ordered particulars, Kelley filed a first amended information on Dec. 31, expanding the case from six to 17 counts and adding extensive factual detail, including statutory citations, timelines, vehicle models and license plates, and an estimated $61,000 in unpaid vehicle rentals.
At Monday’s hearing, Mendiola’s attorney, Bruce Berline, argued that the prosecution sidestepped the court’s order by filing a new charging document rather than supplying the required particulars. Attorneys Charity Hodson, representing Dela Cruz, and Joey San Nicolas, representing Mizutani, joined the motion.
Berline said the government had “muddied the waters,” adding that the amended filing went far beyond what the court had ordered. He recommended that the prosecution voluntarily dismiss the case and refile only if they intended to follow proper procedure.
After the hearing, Mendiola was asked whether he expects the charges to be refiled. “If they file the case, I have no choice but to face it again, but it’s not something I’m looking forward to,” he said.
The allegations centered on claims that between April 2022 and April 2023, Mendiola authorized the transport of private and rental vehicles on government-chartered vessels and approved or used multiple rental vehicles without budget authority, allegedly causing tens of thousands of dollars in losses to the Commonwealth. One transported vehicle was allegedly taken without the rental company’s consent, forming the basis of a theft charge. Mizutani and Dela Cruz were accused of assisting in related vehicle rentals and authorizations.
With the dismissal now granted, the jury trial previously set for March 9, 2026, is vacated.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
