SUPERIOR Court Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja has scheduled the bench trial of Shayne Villanueva for Sept. 24, 2024 at 9 a.m. Villanueva has been charged with contempt of Legislature.
In a pretrial order issued last week, Judge Naraja noted that the prosecution and defense agreed and concurred with the bench trial date.
“The parties shall file its witness list (inclusive of expert witness) with the court one day before the pretrial conference date,” he added.
Judge Naraja scheduled a pretrial conference hearing for Sept. 10, 2024 at 9 a.m.
Villanueva is the owner of Roil Soil Marketing, which the administration of then-Gov. Ralph DLG Torres contracted to help implement the BOOST program in 2022. BOOST stands for “Building Optimism, Opportunities and Stability Together,” a $17 million federally funded program of the previous administration.
According to the House Special Committee on Federal Assistance & Disaster-Related Funding, the documents it gathered indicated that Villanueva was paid $215,000 “at the very least,” by the previous administration for implementing the program.
On March 5, 2024, Villanueva appeared before the committee and invoked his Fifth Amendment right when asked questions about BOOST. After the committee found him in contempt, Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez transmitted to Attorney General Edward Manibusan a “certification of statement of contempt” pertaining to Villanueva.
On March 22, 2024, Villanueva self-surrendered at the Department of Corrections after an arrest warrant was issued against him for contempt. He posted a $1,000 bail for his release.
During an arraignment on April 2, 2024, Villanueva pled not guilty to the charge of contempt of Legislature.
Defense motions
Recently, the court heard arguments regarding the defense 1) “Motion to Dismiss on the Right to Assert Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination to all BOOST-Related Questions Posed by the Special Committee on Federal Assistance and Disaster-Related Funding and to the Particular Questions at Issue Here”; 2) “Motion to Dismiss on the Grounds that the Special Committee on Federal Assistance and Disaster-Related Funding Violated [the defendant’s] Right to Counsel Under 1 CMC § 1303(a) During the Investigative Hearing”; and 3) the “Motion to Strike Certain Portions of the Information Pursuant to Rule 7(d) of the Commonwealth Rules of Criminal Procedure.”
Judge Naraja has yet to issue a ruling on the motions.
