Jury trial of Mayor Atalig, girlfriend to start Aug. 11

After several postponements due to various reasons, the jury trial of Rota Mayor Efraim M. Atalig and his girlfriend, Evelyn Atalig, will finally start at the new U.S. Courthouse building in Gualo Rai on Aug. 11 at 10am.

At a pretrial conference yesterday, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona and the parties’ counsel agreed to have 12 jurors and four alternates.

According to the minutes of the conference, assistant U.S. attorney Eric S. O’Malley informed the court that the U.S. government anticipates between two to three days to present their case. Defense counsels David G. Banes and Steven P. Pixley expect five to seven days to present their case.

Pixley, who is counsel for Evelyn Atalig, also told the court that he is going to identify a Chamorro interpreter by tomorrow, Friday.

Manglona appointed attorney Bruce Berline as counsel for Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services Commissioner Dennis James C. Mendiola.

Efraim Atalig had requested the federal court to determine prior to the trial whether Mendiola has a valid basis for asserting the Fifth Amendment privilege if he is called to testify at trial. The Fifth Amendment protects individuals from being forced to incriminate themselves. The U.S. government did not oppose Efraim Atalig’s request.

Mendiola used to serve as Rota DFEMS deputy commissioner. He was among the eight Rota officials, including Efraim Atalig, that the Office of the Attorney General had charged with misconduct in public office before the Superior Court.

The OAG, however, later dropped the case against Mendiola. The Superior Court granted the motion, which means that OAG can no longer re-file the charge against him.

The Superior Court case was filed over an alleged Republican rally in Guam in June 2018 that Efraim Atalig and others allegedly attended in the guise of a legitimate government trip.

Mendiola is not charged in Atalig’s case in federal court.

The charges in District Court 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 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.