Munson awards $4.2 M to non-heir By MAR-VIC CAGURANGAN Staff Reporter

Federal Judge Alex Munson has awarded $4.2 million to a boy who had failed in genetic testing which was supposed to establish his paternal relationship with the late millionaire Larry Hillblom.

Munson ruled in favor of Vo Minh Tan, his Thai mother Thi Thuy Dung and his guardian James Hollman, based on the Oct. 16 ruling issued in Hawaii by arbitrator Susan M. Ichinose.

Ichinose ruled that the defendants — Naoko Imeong, Junior Larry Hillbroom, David Moncrief, Jellian Cuartero, Milagros Feliciano and Mercedita Feliciano — breached the protocol contained in the Sibling Testing Agreement.

“The agreement among putative heirs to pool information and for sibling testing is legally valid, binding, and enforceable,” Ichinose said in her decision.

“Based on the agreement, results of DNA tests were supposed to have been kept confidential,” said Bruce Jorgensen, attorney for Tan, Dung, and Hollman.

The genetic testing was intended to eliminate “unqualified” heirs to the Hillblom estate.

Cuartero, Junior Hillbroom, and Mercedita Feliciano, passed the DNA tests, prompting the Hillblom estate to settle their claims. The probate court approved two weeks ago the distribution of their inheritance. Each of the three children stands to get $23 million.

Jorgensen said the original intent of the sibling testing agreement was to place the supposed heirs “in a better bargaining position with the Hillblom estate.”

The DNA test itself, according to Jorgensen, was not admissible as evidence in the CNMI to prove paternity claims.

Jorgensen said the Hillblom estate had offered to settle the claims even before the court could rule on the validity of DNA tests as evidence in paternity lawsuits.

“If the DNA test was not considered, my client had the strongest evidence [to prove his paternity claims] based on depositions heard in Vietnam,” Jorgensen said.

In his Oct. 20 decision, Munson ordered the defendants to stop the distribution of the estate cash until the $4.2 million arbitration award to the Hollman claimants is paid.

“If there was any prejudice to the participating parties, it was for their own making when they negotiated the terms of their arbitration agreement. In any event all parties suffered identical prejudice,” Munson said.