SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan imposed a $50,000 cash bail on Jones Smith on Thursday.
Smith, 41, is accused of assaulting and attempting to rape his common-law wife. He has been charged with attempted sexual assault in the first degree, strangulation, assault, and disturbing the peace.
After the hearing, Judge Bogdan remanded Smith to the custody of the Department of Corrections and ordered him to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 31 at 10 a.m., and for an arraignment on Sept. 19 at 9 a.m.
Smith was represented by Assistant Public Defender Tyler Scott while Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds appeared for the government.
On Aug. 19, 2022, police responded to a reported assault and attempted rape incident in Chinatown, Garapan.
The complainant told police that Smith, her common-law spouse, was drinking that night.
She said Smith talked about their problems in the past — “a drunk talking about nonsense,” she added.
She said she told him to stop and to go to sleep but Smith refused.
She said this went on for a while and she was not able to sleep because Smith kept waking her up.
She said Smith also kept asking her to have sex with him, but she said no, adding that she was tired.
She said Smith refused to let her rest and told her, “Stop pretending like you’re sleeping.”
Around 1:30 a.m., she said, Smith jumped on top of her and put one knee on her left inner thigh and the other knee on her right inner thigh and held her arms down.
Smith then started to pull down her lavalava wrap while she struggled. She said she screamed at him: “Leave me alone!”
Smith then put both his hands on her face covering both her nose and mouth, she said, adding that she could not breathe and was suffocating.
She eventually managed to sit up and pushed his face with both hands and scratched his cheeks with her nails.
She said Smith told her: “I’m going to cut your tongue, your throat and stab you, and then put your dead body in the closet.”
She told the police that she got really scared because she knew he kept a knife near the bed. She said she did not say anything to Smith.
At 5:30 a.m. she got up and cooked for her daughter. At 7 a.m. she left to drop the child, and then she went to the roundhouse where she called for police assistance.
