By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
THE NMI Supreme Court has vacated the conviction of Sergio M. Rangamar and ordered a new trial, ruling that the Superior Court judge who presided over his case should have recused herself because of her prior involvement with a key witness in the Drug Court Program.
Rangamar, 49, was found guilty in February 2024 of assault and battery, assault, and two counts of disturbing the peace following a two‑day bench trial before Associate Judge Teresa Kim‑Tenorio.
On appeal, he argued that Judge Kim‑Tenorio should have been disqualified under 1 CMC § 3308(a) because she oversaw the Drug Court Program in which the prosecution’s main witness participated.
He also claimed the court violated his due‑process rights by denying his request to compel disclosure of the witness’s Drug Court records without conducting an in‑camera review.
The appellate panel agreed that recusal was required under the statute. The justices vacated the judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings before a different judge.
However, they also ruled that the trial court did not err in denying Rangamar’s motion to compel an in‑camera review of confidential program records, affirming that portion of the ruling, which “remains binding on remand.”
The order was signed by Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro, Justice John A. Manglona, and Justice Pro Tempore Perry B. Inos. Rangamar was represented on appeal by attorney Bruce Berline.
Judge Kim‑Tenorio issued her verdict on Feb. 2, 2024, stating that after weighing witness testimony and counsel’s arguments, “the evidence presented proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt as to the charges.”
According to the criminal complaint, a woman and her companion were walking home with groceries in Chalan Laulau when Rangamar began yelling at them. The woman told police she recognized him as a relative of her children’s father.
She said Rangamar climbed down from heavy equipment, went into a nearby tin house, and emerged holding what she described as a long, black gun “like what green toy soldiers carry.” She said he ran toward them and fired two or three shots, striking her right ankle.
Her companion told police that Rangamar appeared to fumble with the ammunition magazine before pointing the gun at them again and saying, “You better start running.” He said they were too shocked to move and that he did not know Rangamar.
He added that he tried to shield the woman as Rangamar fired five more times. After she told him she had been shot, he saw blood coming from her ankle. As they left the area, he said he saw Rangamar walking back toward a yellow excavator.
Police later recovered an empty Crossman .22‑caliber pellet container outside Rangamar’s residence.
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.
