HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man charged in connection to a 2022 traffic fatality is expected to plead guilty in the Superior Court of Guam.
Joquest Kinzama James appeared before Presiding Judge Alberto Lamorena III on Monday morning for James’ 2022 case. He is charged with vehicular homicide while driving impaired as a second-degree felony, vehicular negligence and negligent homicide as third-degree felonies and driving while impaired and reckless driving with injuries as misdemeanors.
James was on the court calendar to enter a plea of guilty to the charges. However, Lamorena stated the plea agreement needed to set out a sentencing range for James’ charges.
“I just want to make sure that Mr. James knows what he’s getting into. This is a very serious matter. … If I’m going to go to jail for a few years, I’d like to know what I’m getting into,” Lamorena said to James’ attorney before also discussing the plea should be discussed with the victim’s family.
According to Guam law, vehicular homicide while driving impaired carries a prison term range of eight to 15 years.
Additionally, the amount of restitution requested by the victim’s family was $9,870, which Lamorena also stated needed to be included with the plea agreement before he could accept it.
As a result, Lamorena scheduled James to appear in court April 11.
Hit-and-run
James was charged in connection to a fatal auto-pedestrian crash in Hågat on March 29, 2022.
According to court documents, James allegedly hit Johnny Quenga with a GMC truck before fleeing the scene and heading toward the Piti area. The Guam Police Department was subsequently notified of the collision and eventually followed James and stopped him at the ITC intersection in Tamuning.
Officers smelled alcohol on James as he sat in the driver’s seat and noticed he had red, bloodshot, watery eyes. As James exited the car, police noted that he had a difficult time walking and maintaining his balance.
Documents state James allegedly admitted to drinking vodka and hitting “something” when he was coming from down south. James submitted to a Breathalyzer test and had a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.173.
Guam Fire Department medics discovered Quenga, after the collision, was not breathing and was hemorrhaging from both his ears and his mouth. Quenga was declared dead later that evening at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, documents state.
According to prison records, James was arrested in 2009 on charges of driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.
Guam police block an area along Route 2 in Hågat following a deadly auto-pedestrian crash reported Tuesday night.
