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Court summons Judge Manibusan, Lynch
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Posted on Aug 23 1999
The Superior Court on Friday summoned Presiding Judge Edward Manibusan and Chief Prosecutor Kevin Lynch to answer questions about the legality of a raid conducted by agents of the Department of Public Safety and the Attorney General’s Office last July 3.
Manibusan and Lynch, along with police officer Paul T. Ogomuro, were ordered to appear on Aug. 25 at the courtroom of Associate Judge Timothy Bellas.
“This is the first time for a judge to be issued a subpoena. We were not comfortable when we delivered the subpoena to the presiding judge,” according to a Superior Court employee.
The summon was issued based on a motion filed by lawyer Joseph Arriola on behalf of Cheung Ping Yin, who is seeking the return of properties and gambling paraphernalia confiscated from him by government agents during the raid.
Arriola alleged that the search warrant issued by Manibusan and used by the raiding team was “defective because it is a general search warrant,” and that “it permitted the police to keep whatever was seized.”
Manibusan, Lynch and Ogomuro were ordered to bring with them “affidavit in support of the warrant” and any document pertaining to the “execution of the warrant” issued on July 2.
The raid was conducted in the early morning of July 3.
Arriola said that while the search warrant did not specify the particular items to be seized, the government raiders swooped down on Cheung’s business and confiscated his properties at random.
Arriola said the government violated Cheung’s rights under the Constitution, which provides that “no warrant shall be issued except upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Arriola also said DPS and AGO failed to provide Cheung with an inventory of the properties seized from him. (MCM)
