Kingman opposes request for disqualification

The special prosecutor hired by the Office of the Attorney General to assist in prosecuting former governor Ralph DL Torres in his pending criminal case at the Superior Court has opposed the defense’s request for his disqualification.

In addition, James Kingman says the court should also deny the defense’s motion to reconsider its previous order denying the defense motion for the Office of the Attorney General to withdraw or be disqualified as prosecutor.

According to Kingman, the defense’s motion for reconsideration is improper and unnecessary.

“The delay on the reconsideration motion belies defendant’s claims to harm. Defendant claims that the court should act based on the underlying principles of Rules 54 and 59(e) of the NMI Rules of Civil Procedure. Setting aside that it is the Criminal Rules that guide, this is not a final order or judgment, and that these rules apply for litigation regarding multiple parties and unclear pecuniary awards, even those rules would require such a motion to be served not later than 10 days after the entry of the judgment,” Kingman said.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, the defense team for Torres claims that the attorneys employed by the Office of the Attorney General are not in compliance with the Model Rules of Professional Conduct as held by the CNMI Supreme Court in various other cases.

Torres’ team of lawyers, in a statement to the media, said they want the Superior Court to hold that the attorneys employed by the OAG be subject to and in compliance with the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

The defense claims that multiple “facts” prove that the OAG did not comply with the MRPC, like the fact that the complainant in this case, Attorney General Edward Manibusan, was not “screened” or “walled off” from the case.

“The team’s position has always been that the attorney general was the former governor’s attorney, responsible for providing him with legal guidance. As such, the AG cannot represent a client, and then turn around and prosecute that same client right after. However, the OA’s position is that AG Manibusan does not have to be disqualified because he has been screened out of this case and is not involved in any way,” the defense stated.

“During the hearing to disqualify the OAG from prosecuting this case, the prosecutors and AG Manibusan represented to the court that AG Manibusan was ‘walled off’ from the case…whereby only Mr. Robert Glass and Mr. Steve Kessel, the attorneys prosecuting this case, had access to the case file,” the defense added.

However, the team said one of the “facts” proving incompliance was Manibusan personally hiring Kingman.

“It was AG Manibusan who negotiated the agreement for legal services with the special prosecutor. It was also AG Manibusan who instructed Department of Finance to process and release the special prosecutor’s retainer paid for by public funds. In addition, the special prosecutor is supposed to report directly to AG Manibusan. These facts, and more, show that AG Manibusan is not screened off the case,” the team stated.