THE Public Defender’s Office is objecting to a government witness appearing virtually from Guam in the jury trial of Yuzhu Zhang on March 27.
Zhang, represented by Assistant Public Defender Karie Comstock, filed a written objection to the prosecution’s motion for former Customs Captain John Sablan to appear virtually.
The Office of the Attorney General requested for three people to appear virtually to testify in the trial. The PDO did not object to the virtual appearance of the two witnesses who are lab technicians.
Experts have been allowed before to testify in court remotely, but the AG’s office wants Sablan to testify as a “lay” witness.
In her objection, Comstock said, “Allowing a factual, lay witness to testify remotely through the use of Micro Soft Teams or any other similar form of CCTV, denies Mr. Zhang his constitutionally protected right to confrontation as provided by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 4(b) of the NMI Constitution.”
She said the prosecution “has offered no reason for using video testimony with this witness other than that the witness lives in Guam and the Commonwealth does not wish to spend the money to bring the witness to Saipan to testify.”
Comstock said nothing “has been mentioned about whether, if given a plane ticket, the witness would be willing and physically able to come to Saipan to testify.”
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has granted the government’s motion as to the two expert testimonies. Assistant Attorney General Steven Kessel appeared for the government.
The judge also scheduled a motion hearing for March 22 at 10 a.m. for Comstock’s objection to Sablan’s appearing remotely.
Zhang, 48, is accused of attempting to smuggle from California, through mail, 4.9 pounds of methamphetamine. The seized methamphetamine contraband has a street value of approximately $700,000, authorities said.
He was charged with importation of contraband, trafficking and possession of a controlled substance.
