Prosecutors oppose release of teen convicted of DUI

Government prosecutors have opposed the request of a teenager to temporarily suspend the sentence imposed on him after being convicted for driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving.

Raymond Blas’ request to have his sentence suspended remains pending before the Supreme Court, although he turned himself in at the local prison on Monday pursuant to the trial court’s order.

Superior Court Associate Judge Juan T. Lizama imposed a partially suspended five-year-prison term on Blas for his conviction on DUI and reckless driving, giving him18 months in prison before he could be released on supervised probation to complete the entire five-year term.

CNMI chief prosecutor David Hutton and assistant attorney general Grant Sanders said Blas’ request for stay is unnecessary and unwarranted. They said Blas failed to meet the standards set by jurisprudence to warrant a stay of sentence pending appeal.

The prosecutors said the public interest would not be served by suspending the sentence. They also said that Blas’ appeal is not likely to succeed based on the merits and that the balance of hardships do not tip in favor of the 17-year-old defendant.

“The public has an interest in this case simply because of the media attention that this case attracted. Also, the public interest is not only in justice being done but also in justice having been seen to be done,” the prosecutors said. “This is because the public has an interest in seeing that convicted persons serve their sentences immediately.”

The prosecutors refuted the argument of Blas’ lawyer, Brien Sers Nicholas, that, since the jury acquitted Blas on a charge of vehicular homicide, the same jury unanimously found the defendant to be in no violation of any traffic law. Sers Nicholas said DUI and reckless driving were two traffic offenses that the jury was instructed to consider before handing down its verdict.

The prosecutors branded Sers Nicholas’ reasoning as speculative, saying that the jurors were not given questions on the charges of DUI and reckless driving, which were under the jurisdiction of the bench. They said what was only clear about the jury’s finding is that Blas was not guilty of vehicular homicide.

They said Blas would not suffer irreparable harm if the request for stay is denied, saying that incarceration after conviction is a risk that the defendant took when he decided to have the case decided by the trial court.

“Assuming a remand with the prospect of a greater sentence [is] issued later, beginning to serve a sentence now will merely mean that [Blas] will be able to start his sentence and move on with his life,” they said.

The vehicular mishap Blas was involved in during the wee hours of Dec. 26, 2003 resulted in the death of a 13-year-old boy, who was among the defendant’s passengers on a pickup truck that slammed into a light post. The impact of the crash threw the victim from the car, fatally injuring him.