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Castro: Court prohibited from commenting on Flores’ request
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Posted on Jul 20 2023
Alexandro C. Castro
CNMI Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro said the court is prohibited from publicly commenting on Rep. Marissa Renee Flores’ (Ind-Saipan) request for recused judges of former governor Ralph DLG Torres’ case.
In a letter to Flores dated yesterday, July 19, 2023, Castro said: “Due to a recently filed petition for writs of prohibition and mandamus regarding recusal, the court is prohibited from commenting on the subject pursuant to the Code of Judicial Conduct for the Commonwealth Judiciary.”
He added, “Please be informed the trial and appellate courts cannot make any public statement on published orders and opinions or issues that are likely to come before the court.”
Flores, in a letter to both Castro and Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto Naraja dated July 17, 2023, requested that all CNMI Superior Court judges disclose their specific reasons for recusing themselves from hearing the suit that former governor Ralph DLG Torres filed against the Department of Finance and Office of the Attorney General that questioned the hiring contract of special prosecutor James Kingman.
Specifically, Flores said that CNMI law may allow judges and justices to recuse themselves without citing any reason but these recusals “incur substantial delay in significant cases and prevent the public from having cases heard by local elected officials.”
Saipan Tribune archives show that Naraja and associate judges Joseph N. Camacho, Teresa Kim-Tenorio, Kenneth Govendo, and Wesley Bogdan have all recused themselves from hearing Torres’ suit.
With this, Torres’ petition is left without a local judge to hear it. This means that, like Torres’ ongoing criminal case, the CNMI Supreme Court will have to appoint a non-CNMI judge to hear the matter.
