Wiseman quashes arrest warrant for Fitial

Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman quashed today, Monday, the arrest warrant he issued against former governor Benigno R. Fitial who is facing criminal charges for shielding former attorney general Edward T. Buckingham from being served with penal summons.

In granting Fitial’s request to quash the arrest warrant, Wiseman, however, required Fitial to appear in Superior Court on April 30, 2014 at 1:30pm.
Wiseman said pre-trial conditions will be discussed at the time the former governor appears in court.
Attorney Stephen Nutting appeared at the hearing as counsel for Fitial. Office of the Public Auditor legal counsel/assistant attorney general George L. Hasselback appeared for the government.
Hasselback wants to suspend, with some conditions, the arrest warrant issued against Fitial so he could return to the CNMI from the Philippines and face the criminal charges.
Hasselback said the conditions for suspending the arrest warrant should include that Fitial provide a certain date for him to present himself before the court for an initial appearance.
Fitial, 68, wants to return to the CNMI to face the criminal charges filed against him, saying he has no desire to become a fugitive.
Through attorney Stephen Nutting as his counsel, Fitial filed a declaration executed in Taguig, Global City, Philippines dated Feb. 27, 2014.
Nutting attached the affidavit in support of Fitial’s motion filed recently requesting the Superior Court to quash the arrest warrant that Wiseman issued against him.
Fitial tendered his resignation as governor on Feb. 21, 2013.
Immediately following his resignation, Fitial and his wife Josefina reportedly left the CNMI and traveled to California to be with their children and also to meet with his doctor to address certain medical issues which had been a constant source of his pain for the last several years.
Because they failed to meet his doctor in California, he and his wife traveled to the Philippines in early March 2013 to seek treatment for his back problems and other pressing medical issues.
In March 2013, the Office of the Public Auditor filed seven criminal charges against Fitial for his role in shielding former attorney general Edward T. Buckingham from being served with penal summons in August 2012.
Last Feb. 19, Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo found Buckingham guilty of all public corruption charges except one and sentenced him to 3.5 years in prison, all suspended.
More details to follow.