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High court affirms Hocog’s sentence but vacates restriction on his parole
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Posted on Aug 09 2019
The CNMI Supreme Court issued its opinion in Commonwealth v. Donald A. Hocog last Aug. 2, affirming Hocog’s 30-year sentence. The high court, however, vacated the parole restriction, which originally prevented him from ever being eligible for parole.
A jury in 2013 found Hocog guilty of sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree for sexually abusing the victim on several occasions. The trial court sentenced him to 30 years imprisonment, “without the possibility of parole, probation, early release, work or weekend release, or any other similar program.”
On appeal, Hocog claimed: 1) his sentence was not tailored to his individual circumstances; 2) his parole eligibility was improperly restricted; and 3) the trial court sentenced him based on insufficient evidence.
Because of these reasons, he asked the Supreme Court to vacate his sentence and return his case to the trial court to be sentenced by a different judge.
The Supreme Court found that while the 30-year sentence may be harsh, a reasonable person would hand down a similar sentence in light of Hocog’s criminal record, the number of temporary restraining orders against him, the prolonged period of sexual abuse, the young person who witnessed the abuse, the victim’s suffering, and the psychological effects of the sexual abuse on the victim.
The Supreme Court, however, found the complete restriction of Hocog’s eligibility for parole as improper because the trial court’s justification was both inadequate and insufficient.
The high court’s full opinion is available at http://cnmilaw.org/pdf/supreme/2019-MP-05.pdf. (PR)
