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Manglona resets Ataligs’ jury trial to July 7
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Posted on May 05 2020
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has reset the jury trial of Rota Mayor Efraim M. Atalig and his girlfriend, Evelyn Atalig, to July 7, 2020.
The trial has already been reset several times for many reasons; this most recent one is due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manglona also set a motion hearing for June 2 at 10am.
David G. Banes, the court-appointed counsel for Efraim Atalig, has informed the court that the Ataligs intend to file a motion to dismiss the indictment and a motion to allow their expert witness to review the grand jury and Henthorn materials in this case.
Henthorn gives defense attorneys the right to any information in an agent’s personnel record relating to dishonesty, perjury, and others that can be used to impeach the agent’s testimony.
Manglona also set an evidentiary hearing for May 13 to address the defendants’ joint motion for sanction.
Meanwhile, Efraim Atalig, through Banes, submitted last week a summary of the opinion of his expert witness, former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and federal criminal investigator Dr. Gregory Vecchi. Banes described Vecchi as an assistant professor of criminal justice and a police academy instructor specializing in interview and interrogation techniques.
Banes said Vecchi is expected to testify that the investigation of this case exhibits confirmation bias against the Ataligs on the part of the U.S. government investigators, primarily FBI special agent Haejun Park. The lawyer said Vecchi is expected to testify that the government investigators, primarily Park, improperly influenced and threatened witnesses, and also failed to conform to accepted investigative standards and practices.
The charges against Efraim and Evelyn Atalig involve at least eight trips taken by the couple at different times in 2018 to Guam, Palau, the U.S. mainland, South Korea, and Saipan.
The Ataligs are being charged jointly with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and theft from program receiving federal funds, wire fraud, and theft from program receiving federal funds. Both are also charged separately with false statement.
