Previous Story
Convict wants to go back to Hawaii school
|
Posted on Jul 30 1999
A man convicted of assault and battery asked the Supreme Court yesterday to stay the execution of the trial court’s sentence so he could go back to Hawaii and continue his college studies while his appeal is pending.
Jefferson Weber O’Connor, who was found guilty of beating his wife Elisa Defunturon, was sentenced on Wednesday to serve 100 hours of community service and to pay the imposed fine.
O’Connor’s sentence does not include incarceration but he is not allowed to leave Saipan while serving the punishment term.
O’Connor, who is represented by Asst. Public Defender Wesley M. Bogdan, appealed his conviction to the high court on the day he was sentenced.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Bellas convicted O’Connor based on the testimony of Dr. Gregory Verville, the physician at Commonwealth Health Center who treated Defunturon on day she was beaten up.
Verville had told the court that the patient had identified O’Connor as her assailant.
The trial court said Verville’s testimony was a kind of “hearsay evidence” that could fall under the medical diagnosis exception to the court’s hearsay rule.
O’Connor appealed the issue to the Supreme Court, hoping for the reversal of the trial court’s decision.
“Being an issue of first impression which has great impact and importance to an individual’s constitutional rights, the Supreme Court should be given the opportunity to resolve this issue in the interest of judicial economy before requiring the defendant to comply with the terms of the sentence imposed,” Bodgan told the high court.
O’Connor is a full-time student preparing to return to Hawaii for his senior year.
“The court should recognize that throughout the pendency of this action, the defendant has been off-island student (with the court’s knowledge) and has properly appeared in court when required to do so,” Bodgan wrote.
O’Connor said he expects the Supreme Court to have reached a decision on his appeal by the time he comes back to Saipan after graduation in May 2000. (MCM)
