Barcinas appointed to preside over Torres’ suit against Finance

Arthur R. Barcinas

The CNMI Supreme Court has appointed Guam judge Arthur R. Barcinas to preside over former governor Ralph DLG Torres’ case against the Department of Finance and others.

After all sitting Superior Court judges issued orders of recusals last month, Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro has officially appointed Barcinas to preside over Torres’ petition against the Department of Finance regarding its decision not to rule on the defense’s petition against the contract of special prosecutor James Robert Kingman.

“Under the authority of the Article IV, Section 9(d) of the NMI Constitution and in furtherance of the prompt and efficient dispatch of Court business, the Chief Justice may designate a judge pro tempore as necessary. It is therefore, ordered: Honorable Arthur R. Barcinas, Judge of the Superior Court of Guam, is hereby designated and appointed to serve as judge pro tempore in this matter. [Parties] shall notify the Clerk of the Superior Court in writing no later than ten days from the date of this order of any good cause or reason why Judge Arthur R. Barcinas should not serve as judge pro tempore,” said Castro in his order.

Barcinas is also currently presiding over Torres’ pending criminal case which has yet to be set for trial.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, Torres, through his defense team, filed a petition for a judicial review of the decision the Department of Finance made in the Kingman case. The DOF and the Office of the Attorney General were named respondents in this matter.

The petition came after Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita declined to rule or address the merits of Torres’ request that Kingman’s contract with the OAG be declared invalid.

In addition, the agency ruling dismissed Torres’ request finding that the department lacks the authority to issue a declaratory ruling because Kingman’s contract had already been signed.

As relief, Torres is asking the Superior Court to vacate the DOF’s final agency decision on the grounds that the ruling was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law. The defense also wants the court to rule that the special prosecutor’s contract fails to comply with procurement regulations and is therefore void.

Alternatively, Torres asks that the court set aside the DOF’s final agency ruling and remand the matter back to the agency for a decision on the merits of his request for declaratory relief by an independent and unbiased hearing officer.

Torres is challenging Kingman’s previous contract with the OAG as a special prosecutor in his ongoing criminal case. Torres argues that the contract did not comply with the CNMI’s rules of procurement.

The defense team for Torres is now also strongly opposing Kingman’s recent appointment as a staff attorney for the OAG as an assistant attorney general.