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Man suing 5 lawyers for alleged bribery, grand larceny asks court for more time
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Posted on Jun 09 2021
A man who alleged that five lawyers have committed “bribery and grand larceny” against him has asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI to give him more time to find a lawyer to represent him.
In a “motion for extension of time” that Nicanor Flores Norita, 76, filed on June 7, he said he has had difficulty finding a lawyer to represent him and asked the court to “give me another month to finalize the situation.”
Norita’s motion came in response to a May 25 order from U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona, who ordered the case dismissed without prejudice, as the details in the man’s original May 3 complaint were found to be “deficient.” In his original complaint, the legal basis for Norita’s lawsuit was explained in a single sentence: “They stole all the money.”
Manglona, however, allowed the man to submit by June 8 an amended complaint “that cures the deficiencies.” If he fails to do so by the deadline, the lawsuit will be closed.
Norita filed his May 3 complaint in forma pauperis, which refers to an instance where a person who is unable to pay court filing fees is allowed to submit their case to a court. Norita named five lawyers in his proposed “bribery and grand larceny” lawsuit: Timothy Bellas, Rosemond Santos, Michael Dotts, Brien Sers Nicholas, and Ben Petersburg.
In a letter Norita submitted to the court last May 17, he detailed the alleged misdealings in the distribution of around $5 million among the successors of a deceased family member that prompted him to complain to the court.
Norita, in particular, claimed that Dotts supposedly did not submit a brief to his brother when he told Dotts that he planned to give his brother a portion of “his mother’s share.” Allegedly, Dotts instead gave these funds to another family member in front of Norita’s brother. Norita further claims that the other family member then went on to use the money Dotts supposedly gave them to extend their house and buy another property in Kagman.
It was not immediately learned as of press time Tuesday whether or not Manglona granted Norita’s motion or if Norita was able to submit an amended complaint.
