Kingman: Court’s ruling was clear

The special prosecutor hired by the Office of the Attorney General to assist in the ongoing criminal case against former governor Ralph DLG Torres has opposed the defense’s motion for the Superior Court to reconsider its previous denial of their motion to dismiss, saying the court’s ruling in the motion was clear.

In a three-page response to the defense’s motion for the Superior Court to reconsider its denial of their motion to dismiss for failure to allege mens rea (or intent), special prosecutor James Kingman stated that the motion is improper and unnecessary because the court’s ruling on the matter was clear.

“The court’s ruling detailed how the CNMI law governs statutes when there is not specific mens rea in a statute,” said Kingman.

Kingman referenced the Supreme Court case Commonwealth vs. Camacho, stating that the court was clear then in its ruling that without specific mens rea, the Commonwealth must explore whether or not the defendant “knowingly” committed the illegal act he/ she has been accused of.

“In the Supreme Court case of Commonwealth v. Camacho, the court made it clear that ‘knowingly’ should be read into the case. Per the court, the Commonwealth must probe that the defendant knew or should have known that he was committing an illegal act and that he knew or should have known that he was committing the act under the color of office,” said Kingman.

He further argued the motion for reconsideration should have been filed 10 days after the judgment if the court’s ruling really would have resulted in a “manifest injustice”—as the defense claims. Instead, it took the defense team 206 days after the court’s order to file its motion.

“A ‘manifest injustice’ or actual confusion about the charges surely would have prompted swifter action,” said Kingman.

For these reasons, Kingman said Torres’ motion to reconsider and/or provide clarification should be denied as it has been appropriately ruled on.

Torres’ defense team argues that the prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the former governor had the intent, or mens rea, to commit acts that constitute misconduct in public office.

In its motion for reconsideration of the original denial order, the defense told the media through an official statement that Torres denies criminal intent and the prosecution has failed to prove otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt.

“The Office of the Attorney General must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Torres had the intent to commit the act, and did in fact commit the acts, that constitute the crime of misconduct in public office. This intent is called mens rea. For the travel at issue here, Mr. Torres travelled on behalf of the government and for a government purpose and denies having any criminal intent,” the defense told the media.

“The failure to clearly provide the mens rea, or the intent, is a violation of the Constitution, laws and case laws. Therefore, the team is requesting the court to reconsider its position and further, to provide clear guidance what mens rea the Commonwealth must prove in the case against Mr. Torres,” the defense further stated.