‘Worst case: Not having a fair trial’

House of Representatives vice speaker Blas Jonathan Attao (R-Saipan) said Wednesday that the worst that can happen in the impeachment trial in Gov. Ralph DLG Torres is not having a fair trial before the Senate.

At a press conference in the House chamber, Attao said the worst-case scenario is what’s happening right now that they’re not given the opportunity to get to the Senate.

He said Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian) should give House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) leeway to select a team of prosecutors and not just choose one House member to serve as prosecutor.

Attao

Attao said if Torres is acquitted during the Senate’s trial based the evidence they present, they have to respect that. “There’s some situations that happened in the judicial system that the person gets acquitted for,” he said.

The vice speaker said Hofschneider should be flexible so they can address the issue at trial in a fair manner so that the public can also have something to see.

“And this is something that can be utilized for future generations. We don’t want to have the next group of legislators down the road that would face this type of injustice. We want to fight this forward so that we will have the next generation the opportunity to face the trial in the same issue,” he said.

Attao said they are hoping to never get to this point again, but at least they need to set a precedent that they’re doing good for those coming after them.

Rep. Christina E. Sablan (D-Saipan) said she agrees with Attao’s statement. Sablan also clarified that this impeachment is not just a political process, but also a legal process.

“It’s also a constitutional process. Impeachment is a remedy that the constitution provides to address egregious abuses of office,” she said.

The lawmaker said this whole investigation, this impeachment proceeding, and this trial that they hope will someday happen in the Senate were all precipitated by the governor’s own actions, his own misconduct and abuses of office.

Sablan said she and 14 others did their jobs and diligently reviewed the evidence and the facts and listened to the testimonies and voted the way they did. She said it’s up to the Senate to decide whether they will conduct a fair trial to the end.

Sablan is the Democratic Party’s candidate for governor in the Nov. 8 election. Torres is seeking re-election under the Republican Party. Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios is running also for governor as an independent.