Miura is wanted in Los Angeles where he will face murder charges over the suspicious death of his wife in 1981.
Manglona will preside Miura’s bail hearing today set at 2 p.m.
“I think he will be allowed to post bail,” said a local woman who asked not to be identified. “His lawyers have presented new arguments and he has been acquitted in Japan.”
Still others are not convinced that he should be granted bail.
“No,” said a local man when asked if he thinks Miura should be granted bail. “Because other people with murder cases were not allowed to post bail like Francisco Pua who is accused of murdering a poker attendant.”
Another local man said the murder suspect should not be allowed to post bail and the court should just extradite him and let California deal with his case.
“Why don’t we just extradite him?” he said.
Another one said since Miura, 60, is considered a senior citizen, he should be granted bail.
Miura has been detained here since his arrest on Feb. 22 at Saipan’s international airport.
Authorities arrested Miura upon the request of the Los Angeles Police Department which learned that he was on island after reading his blog.
Miura has hired three veteran Saipan-based attorneys to defend him — Bruce Berline, William Fitzgerald and Mark Hanson.
Berline, the chief of Miura’s defense team on Saipan, said they are prepared to defend their client’s right to post bail.
But he acknowledged it is difficult to predict how the judge will rule.
“It’s an uphill battle. It’s up to the judge,” he said. “I think the facts supporting the bail motion are very compelling.”
CNMI government prosecutors said Miura should not be granted bail because he’s a danger to the community and a flight risk.
They added that Miura has been involved in other criminal cases in Japan.
But according to Berline: “There are two sides to every story. They’ve painted this guy as a very horrible person.”
