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Jury selection in Roberto trial now enters 6th day
The jury selection in the federal jury trial of former acting CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife director Raymond Borja Roberto will resume today, Monday, its sixth day.
With no jury empanelled on Friday, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona will resume the selection process today with 47 prospective jurors returning back in court.
Saipan Tribune learned there are too many prospective jurors who are conflicted, causing the jury selection now entering its sixth day—said to be the longest jury selection in the CNMI so far.
Assistant U.S. attorney Rami S. Badawy and U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and NMI Alicia A.G. Limtiaco are prosecuting the case.
Guam attorney David J. Lujan and Saipan lawyer Joaquin Torres are private retained counsel for Roberto.The defendant also has two private investigators—John Mantanona and Edward Chaco.
The indictment alleged that Roberto persuaded three underage girls to have sex with him from March 1, 2013, to July 18, 2013.
In the witness tampering case, it was alleged that while Roberto was detained pending trial, he attempted to influence the testimony of an individual on April 24, 2014.
