HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Attorney General Douglas Moylan has sent a letter to the Judiciary of Guam requesting magistrate hearings be held twice a day.
On Tuesday, Moylan shared a letter with the media that he sent to Danielle Rosete, the Judiciary of Guam’s administrator of the courts.
In the letter, Moylan asked if the Judiciary would consider providing “a magistrate hearing in both the mornings and afternoons, consistent with Guam law and in order to allow the people of Guam to have up to 48 hours to effectively (file) criminal charges.”
Guam law currently states that after a person is arrested by the Guam Police Department, prosecutors have 48 hours to charge the person and bring them before a judge unless there is a “bona fide emergency or an extraordinary circumstance.”
In his request, Moylan explains that GPD makes arrests at all hours of the day and is required to prepare police reports. At that point, prosecutors must then determine if arrested individuals should be charged after the 48-hour clock has started.
Moylan said the AG’s office continues to face a “dire situation” because of the time it takes to review police reports, which means they “are unable to effectively process all detainees within 24 hours.”
“Because the magistrates continue to only conduct hearings in the afternoons (3 p.m.), the 48 hours often expires by the morning of the following day, requiring that we charge and have that detainee in front of the magistrate (judge) in 24 hours by the set 3 p.m. (time) or the detainee must be (released),” Moylan wrote before addressing issues faced earlier this week.
According to Moylan, four detainees had to be released because GPD arrested them in the early morning Saturday and did not get the police report to the AG’s office, which resulted in the detainees’ release. The release, Moylan says, had to happen because there was no magistrate available Monday morning to charge the detainees within the 48-hour deadline.
“The current scheduling of magistrate hearings only in the afternoons is untenable for the effective prosecution of criminal defendants within 48 hours. It does not allow for the effective protection of crime victims,” Moylan said. He added that suspects not being charged and automatically released “might result in injury or death to a crime victim or to another innocent person.”
The AG said something similar happened during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend when 14 people needed to be reviewed for magistrate hearings.
Bill
Moylan in his letter also indicated he sent a draft of a bill to Speaker Therese Terlaje, which, if introduced and passed, would extend the 48-hour deadline to 72 hours.
“Because of my duty to ensure a safe community by charging criminal (cases), the importance of this ongoing scheduling situation, and (the) risk that a dangerous detainee may be released before we can later indict that person, we are concurrently requesting that the Guam Legislature consider changing the 48-hour requirement to 72 hours, which (will) also assist the Judiciary in addressing this problem affecting the safety of the community,” Moylan wrote.
Judiciary
On Wednesday, The Guam Daily Post asked the Judiciary about Moylan’s letter, and they confirmed it was received.
The Judiciary acknowledged their meeting with the Office of the Attorney General regarding the magistrate hearings on Sept. 28, 2023. Moylan also said he emailed the Judiciary about the issue on June 29, 2023.
“Last September, court officials met with the Office of the Attorney General and offered to accommodate filing deadlines upon their request. We will continue to work with the attorney general and all other government entities involved in magistrate hearings to find an effective way forward,” the Judiciary stated.
The Guam Judicial Center is seen in Hagåtña on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
