THE Public Defender’s Office, which is under the Office of the Governor, has no funds for travel, according to a recent court declaration by Chief Public Defender Douglas Hartig.
He said the PDO is also in arrears with all of its vendors.
“This includes File & Serve and other necessary services, such as IT&E, which provides internet access and telephone services,” Hartig said.
He added, “Two vendors have terminated services with PDO, and PDO has been warned other essential services providers will soon terminate services.”
Hartig issued the declaration after his office filed a motion asking the CNMI Judiciary to cover the PDO’s travel expenses for trials in two separate cases on Tinian and Rota.
In the alternative, he asked the court to allow the PDO to withdraw from handling the criminal cases and appoint “conflict counsel.”
The Rota trial is scheduled for June 26-27, 2025, while the Tinian trial is scheduled for July 7-9, 2025.
In its motion, the PDO noted that defendants have a constitutional right to be represented by counsel at trial under the Commonwealth and U.S. Constitutions.
Variety was unable to get a comment from the governor’s office.
