AGO told to amend charging documents vs Stanley—again

Superior Court judge Juan T. Lizama on Wednesday directed government prosecutors to amend—for the second time—the charging documents against former congressman Stanley Torres.

The judge also instructed deputy attorney general Clyde Lemons Jr. to provide additional details on his accusations against Torres. The judge said specific details could be included in the second amended criminal information, or stated in a separate document.

“The court agrees with defendant Torres that the preamble section is inflammatory and unnecessary. The prosecution shall submit an amended information with the preamble removed,” the judge ruled.

The judge first compelled Lemons and CNMI chief prosecutor David Hutton to amend the charging documents to include the name of the attorney general—Pamela Brown—on whose prosecutorial authority the case is being brought before the court.

The former congressman had opposed Brown’s confirmation as attorney general and had later questioned the validity of her confirmation.

Lizama’s ruling responded to the request of Torres’ lawyer, former attorney general Robert Torres, who had asked the court for a bill of particulars—a procedural device in criminal proceedings that informs the defendant of more specific details of the offenses charged to advise him and the court of what facts he will be required to meet.

Robert Torres earlier chided prosecutors for allegedly doing the criminal information improperly, attaching in one of his submissions to the court a copy of an excerpt from the indictment documents that charged former senators Ricardo Atalig and Jose Dela Cruz in federal court.

Robert Torres said an elaborate discussion of the alleged fraudulent scheme and conspiracy the senators were accused of should also be done in the Superior Court case against Stanley Torres.

The court had scheduled Stanley Torres’ jury trial to begin by July 5, 2005. The judge had also set a pre-trial conference on June 15, 2005, where exchange of witness lists by opposing parties, among others, could be made.

Stanley Torres and co-defendant Dorothy Sablan, who used to be the lawmaker’s office manager, are facing multiple charges of conspiracy to commit theft, conspiracy to commit theft by deception, and illegal use of public supplies, services, time and personnel.

Stanley Torres also faces multiple counts of misconduct in public office, while prosecutors have also charged Sablan with multiple counts of theft, theft by deception and receiving stolen property.

The Attorney General’s Office filed the charges against Torres, Sablan, and Frank Ada sometime last March. The court, however, has dismissed the charges against Ada, who used to be a legislative staff, without prejudice to their re-filing.

Lemons had accused Torres and Sablan of engaging in a fraudulent scheme, wherein the latter received government monies through payroll when she did not actually perform work.

Sablan allegedly received at least five checks totaling $5,384.67 in government payroll in 2003, when she was actually off-island. Ada allegedly prepared fraudulent time and attendance sheets indicating that Sablan rendered work when she was off-island.