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Berline withdraws bid to summon ex-prosecutor
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Posted on May 10 2019
Since the second jury trial for the rape case he previously handled has been dismissed with prejudice, Bruce Berline has withdrawn his bid to summon the case’s previous prosecutor, Teri Tenorio.
Berline, who informed the court two weeks ago that he would like to issue a summons for Tenorio as part of his motion for sanctions, told Saipan Tribune through email that he has since withdrawn that motion.
“There is no need for a summons. What needed to happen was for me to serve Tenorio with the motion so that she had notice of it and had an opportunity to respond. But given that there was no second trial, the sanctions motion is probably moot and so I withdrew it,” he said.
The case Berline was referring to was the rape case against Manolo Romolor.
The case against Romolor that went on for over two years was dismissed with prejudice last week because the alleged victim in the case had no plans to return to the CNMI for the trial. That means the case cannot be re-filed.
According to Saipan Tribune archives, Tenorio left the island over a month ago after her contract with the Office of the Attorney General expired.
Berline previously asked the court to sanction Tenorio; he alleged prosecutorial misconduct. He told the court that the amount of time spent preparing and defending his client for a jury trial that ended in a mistrial last February led to the loss of over $1,000 in his fees.
