Judge dismisses Aguon case at OAG request

Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho dropped yesterday the case against David James Aguon, who has been on trial since last week for allegedly punching a Navy veteran at a bar in Garapan last year.

The 31-year-old Aguon had been charged with aggravated assault and battery. The Office of the Attorney General requested the case’s dismissal.

The prosecution can no longer re-file the case.

Assistant attorney general Betsy Weintraub stated that the Commonwealth has determined that continuing the prosecution of Aguon is not in the best interest of justice.

Weintraub briefly explained to the seven jurors the reason why the government has to dismiss the case in the middle of trial.

“I am embarrassed. I am sorry,” Weintraub said.

After signing the dismissal order, Camacho told Aguon, a diver from Guam, that he is now a free man.

Aguon refused to comment after the hearing.

“I’m okay. There’s nothing to say,” he said.

In an interview, defense counsel Matthew Holley said he is grateful that they’re able to move on and for his client, Aguon, to be able to go home.

“This was a case about a bar fight that turned into a bar fight in the courtroom,” Holley said.

At the end of the day, Holley said, he commends the Office of the Attorney General for dismissing the case.

When asked why the prosecution dropped the case, Holley said ion his opinion, there’s overwhelming evidence that Aguon was not the person who committed the assault.

Holley’s co-counsel, Victorino Torres, was off-island yesterday.

Weintraub said they government dismissed the case because it’s for the best interest of justice after they discovered some new information.

“We did the right thing,” said Weintraub, referring to their decision to dismiss the case. Weintraub’s co-counsel in the case is Jonathan Wilbersheild.

In the middle of the jury trial last week, the prosecution also dropped the charges of assault and battery and disturbing the peace.

The trial began last week, March 20. The prosecution already called five witnesses, including the alleged victim, 53-year-old Navy veteran Christopher Broome.

Broome testified that he had no idea who assaulted him inside the bar because the punch came from the “blind side.”

Police said Broome told a police officer at the hospital, where he was treated for injuries on the nose, that he was punched in the face and was knocked out at White and Black Bar in western Garapan on March 5, 2016. The following day, Aguon was arrested inside Tribes Bar in Garapan.