MPLA, officials ask court to impose sanction vs govt in Malite case

The Marianas Public Lands Authority, its board and commissioner have joined the Malite estate in asking the Superior Court to sanction the CNMI government.

Lawyers of the MPLA, its board and commissioner Edward DeLeon Guerrero are asking the court to fine the government for its last-minute withdrawal of its request for preliminary injunction. They said this action resulted in wasted time and effort on legal preparations in connection with the controversial 3.45-million land compensation dispute.

Mark S. Smith, lawyer for the MPLA board, has billed his client $3,262.50, based on hourly rates of $175 for out-of-court services and $200 for in-court services.

MPLA attorney Matthew Gregory claimed to have rendered 18.75 hours of work, while DeLeon Guerrero’s lawyer, Ramon K. Quichocho claimed 19.55 hours. Both lawyers did not indicate their hourly rates in their submissions to the court.

Malite estate attorneys Pedro and Antonio Atalig have asked the court to impose sanction against the government. The amount of attorney’s fees and costs the Ataligs want assessed against the government totals $28,260.

The scheduled hearing on the injunction request filed by lawyers representing attorney general Pamela Brown did not push through due to their withdrawal of that request on the day of the hearing.

A day earlier, Finance Secretary Fermin Atalig’s decision to revoke his authorization on the drawdown of the $3.45 million being claimed by the Malite estate from the government’s land compensation fund rendered moot the injunction request, since the monies could not be disbursed with or without an injunction.

Several government officials, including Gov. Juan N. Babauta, appeared at the courtroom of Judge Juan T. Lizama for the Dec. 23 hearing pursuant to subpoenas issued them by the court. The subpoenaed officials would have been called to the witness stand had the injunction hearing pushed through.

The Atalig lawyers said that, had the government conducted a reasonable inquiry before filing the lawsuit, they could have easily asked the Finance secretary to withdraw his authorization to prevent the fund drawdown.

Brown had filed the lawsuit on behalf of the CNMI government, citing a “strong appearance of ethical impropriety and conflicts of interest,” in the MPLA’s approval of the $3.45 million-land compensation claim by the Malite estate, a matter that had been decided by the Trust Territory court in 1978.