Lemons: Brown was wrong on earlier nomination opinion

Deputy attorney general Clyde Lemons Jr. yesterday defended the legitimacy of his boss, Pamela Brown, as attorney general, opposing the request of the Public Defender’s Office to dismiss three criminal cases.

Lemons said the rejection of Brown’s nomination by four Senate members on Sept. 17, 2003 was null and avoid, saying that the upper house still had eight senators at that time, including Ricardo Atalig, who was convicted on federal wire fraud charges. He said four senators could not make a quorum to hold a session.

Lemons said the Nov. 17, 2003 Senate session, wherein five senators confirmed Brown’s nomination, was valid.

He said Brown’s nomination did not expire after Sept. 14, 2003, the 90th day after the governor nominated her as attorney general.

“She [Brown] was wrong,” Lemons said, referring to a legal opinion by Brown when she was Senate legal counsel for the 8th CNMI Legislature. During that time, Brown said that a gubernatorial appointee or nominee whose confirmation was rejected by the Senate couldn’t be renominated to the position.

Part of Brown’s opinion reads: “If an appointment is not confirmed, then the person nominated shall not be renominated. Therefore, the subsequent renomination of any such individual…is illegal and invalid for entertainment by the Senate or its standing committee on EAGI.” The Senate has 90 days to confirm or deny the governor’s nomination.

Lemons also said that the CNMI Legislature is a part-time one, noting the limited occurrence of sessions in a year. Given this premise, Brown was still confirmed less than 90 session days after her nomination, according to Lemons.

Lemons also said that, if the court dismisses criminal cases on the ground that the attorney general who brought it to court was holding the position unlawfully, other criminal cases that were filed after May 2003 could also be dismissed.

“That defies logic. It’s ridiculous,” Lemons said. The dismissal of the cases would result in the need to refile them again. “Is that good use of tax dollars?” asked Lemons.

Assistant public defender Angela Marie Krueger insisted that the language of the CNMI Constitution is clear that the attorney general shall have the responsibility to prosecute violations of Commonwealth laws. She said the court would set a bad precedent if the constitutional provision were ignored.

“If the 90-day deadline [for confirmation] is unconstitutional, then [the AGO should] go to court to [have that declared],” Krueger added.