NOTING that the government has withdrawn its request to include additional charges, Special Prosecutor James Robert Kingman said he is ready for the trial of former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres this October.
The defense lawyers, for their part, said the trial may be held “any time after July 2024.”
“If only the thirteen existing charges are going to go forward under this cause number, the trial will be limited in scope. October of 2023 would be ample time to get the appropriate witnesses re-served and to confirm their attendance,” Kingman told the court.
“The Commonwealth anticipates a week of testimony from the Commonwealth on these charges,” he said.
Judge Pro Tempore Arthur Barcinas has not issued a trial date yet in the misconduct in public office case filed by Office of the Attorney General against Torres.
But the judge directed the parties to submit a memorandum of “position statement” regarding the trial schedule.
Regarding the pending motion hearings, Kingman said the prosecution “strongly prefers a hearing date on the pending pretrial motions, as soon as possible, during August.”
Kingman said the pending defense motions can and should be ruled on without a hearing.
“They are motions for reconsideration of prior rulings that Torres filed more than six months after the rulings were made. Holding hearings on any other issue is granting the motions to reconsider. These motions and hearings should be held as soon as possible. There has been a factual record developed, and the issues are fully briefed. The defense team has held hearings without all of its members before on short notice, notably on June 5th, 2023,” the special prosecutor said.
He said his notice was submitted on Aug. 4, 2023. “The clerk’s office rejected the filing but was unable or unwilling to offer an explanation or direction. It was filed again on Aug. 9, 2023. The clerk’s office made contact on Aug. 11 with required corrections to format. This filing was made after.”
The defense team’s position
In their position statement, defense attorneys Viola Alepuyo, Anthony Aguon, Victorino Torres and Matthew Holley stated:
“Assuming, for the sake of scheduling, that the court hears any pending motions in late September or early October 2023, and denies any dispositive motions, it is Mr. [Ralph] Torres’s position that the trial for this matter be held any time after July 2024.”
On April 8, 2022, the Office of the Attorney General filed a criminal case against the former governor, alleging 12 counts of misconduct in public office and one count of theft relating to the issuance of airline tickets for business class, first class, or other premium class travel for himself and/or Diann T. Torres, his wife.
The case also alleged one count of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a legislative subpoena.
The former governor has denied the charges.
Judge Barcinas, for his part, has yet to schedule a hearing for the following pending motions:
The request of the defense to reconsider and clarify the court’s previous decision to deny the defense motion to dismiss Counts I to XII for failure to allege “mens rea”; the defense’s request to disqualify Special Prosecutor James Robert Kingma and reconsider the court’s previous order denying the motion for the OAG to withdraw or be disqualified as prosecutor.
