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Court urged to expedite decision on Ogumoro’s petition
Wiseman says petition has been pending in high court for close to 7 months now
Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman has urged the CNMI Supreme Court to expedite the issuance of a decision regarding the petition of former Department of Public Safety deputy commissioner Ambrosio T. Ogumoro to restrain him from presiding over Ogumoro’s pending criminal case.
Wiseman
Wiseman said Ogumoro’s petition has been pending in the CNMI Supreme Court for close to seven months now.
“Extended delay to trial may infringe on the defendant’s right to speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 4(d) of the Commonwealth Constitution,” said the judge in his amicus curiae participant’s request filed on Friday.
In his request, Wiseman asked the high court to exercise its prerogative to issue an order without oral argument pursuant to CNMI Supreme Court Rules.
An amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) is an entity who is not a party to the case.
Wiseman said a swift resolution to this matter is firmly within the public’s strong interest in ensuring a speedy trial, especially when it involves the criminal prosecution of a public official.
The Office of the Public Auditor charged Ogumoro with 15 criminal offenses for his role in, among other things, shielding then-attorney general Edward Buckingham from being served with penal summons in August 2012.
On Nov. 13, 2014, Ogumoro and the government filed a joint motion to stay all Superior Court proceedings in Ogumoro’s criminal felony prosecution until resolution of Ogumoro’s petition for writ of mandamus/prohibition.
On Nov. 17, 2014, the Supreme Court granted the stay and set the petition for oral argument on Sept. 3, 2015 at 2pm.
Upon the high court’s invitation, Wiseman filed an amicus brief on Nov. 28, 2014.
In his amicus brief, Wiseman asked the high court to deny Ogumoro’s petition. The judge asserted, among other things, that Ogumoro “distorts the law, contorts the facts, and makes giant leaps” in the hopes that the high court will grant him extraordinary relief.
In his request to accelerate the currently set process, Wiseman cited that the high court in the Commonwealth versus Superior Court’s case, held that there is a “strong interest in moving criminal proceedings without an unnecessary delay.”
Wiseman said the high court ruled that this interest is especially pronounced for criminal prosecution of public officials, “in whom the public entrusted its faith and confidence…”
Wiseman noted that in the Commonwealth versus Superior Court case, the high court issued an order less than two months after a trial court’s order was challenged.
The judge said the high court may fulfill the standards set in its ruling in the Commonwealth versus Superior Court by issuing a decision on the litigants’ briefs—without oral argument.
Ogumoro has another pending criminal case, charging him with misconduct in public office, theft by unlawful taking or disposition, and removal of government property. He pleaded not guilty of the charges.
