Burglary victim wants fed court involved

The victim of a burglary and assault and battery case has asked the Superior Court to get the federal court and its prosecutors involved.

The alleged victim of multiple burglaries requested Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto Naraja last Wednesday that all evidence in the criminal case involving Joaquin Crisostimo and Waedynne Cepeda Maratita be transferred to a federal prosecutor.

According to the request, the Office of the Attorney General has chosen to exclude two vital pieces of evidence—a pair of black shoes and a green bag—that would prove the victim’s case.

“These [are] very, very important things that show the connection between the Feb. 17 burglary and Feb. 20 invasion…but CNMI OAG…chose to exclude these,” said the victim, who asked that his name be withheld temporarily.

In a letter to the Saipan Tribune, he said he wants federal prosecutors involved as he believes the OAG prosecutors just wants the case done and that the Department of Public Safety is colluding.

“CNMI OAG informed us that very important real evidences are missing in DPS…I want to…ask federal prosecutors to take actions on these missing evidences. It is a U.S. justice issue,” he said.

In a previous article on the Saipan Tribune, the victim said the two suspects burglarized his house on Saipan and took several items from him on Feb. 17, 2017. He said police officers found the stolen items in the trunk of the suspects’ car and that one suspect even choked him.

The victim also claims that the case’s prosecutor is dropping the case and is also accusing the prosecutor of hiding key evidence (the shoes and the bag) to close the matter easily.

“This is not justice, not a righteous, appropriate way of a prosecutor,” he said, adding that he received a message from the prosecutor, telling him about a possibility that the case may not proceed to trial.

According to a police report, Crisostomo and Maratita broke into a house on Capital Hill after the couple left the residence, leaving their minor daughter behind.

The girl was shocked and frightened upon seeing a woman, later identified as Maratita, holding a metal object and telling her not to move.

When Maratita left the house, the girl grabbed a knife from the kitchen and called her parents. The girl’s father immediately went back and saw the suspects’ car. The father blocked the car with his vehicle. The father struggled with Crisostomo. Police officers arrived and secured Crisostomo.