Manglona: Death threat is no joke

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona deems serious the death threat Daniel A. Castro made to a confidential source during a purported drug transaction and ordered that he be kept detained.
The meaning of Castro’s words themselves is clear, said Manglona, referring to the threat the defendant made to the confidential source.

Manglona’s order on Wednesday affirms U.S. District Court for the NMI Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy’s decision to detain Castro pending trial.

Defense counsel Timothy Bellas had argued that the context—the three persons in the videotape are laughing—takes the edge off the threat.

Manglona, however, noted that the context includes the tone of Castro’s voice and the look on his face, and those convey a threat.

“The fact that if defendant were released his activities could be monitored closely, and he would be the first to come under suspicion if the CS were harmed, does not adequately mitigate the risk,” she said.

Manglona said that persons involved in the methamphetamine or “ice” trade, whether as dealers or users or both, cannot be counted on to act rationally when they are under the influence.

Castro was one of seven persons arrested last month for alleged distribution of “ice.” The indictment charged him with four counts of distribution of methamphetamine. He pleaded not guilty.

At a hearing on Feb. 26, Kennedy ordered Castro’s continued detention after finding that no condition would reasonably assure the community’s safety if he is released.

The factors that Kennedy considered included the weight of the evidence that Castro sold “ice” from his home on four occasions; his criminal history, including a 2004 conviction of conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance; and “credible threats made on Nov. 6, 2013, to [the confidential source] that he will kill CS if CS is working at the direction of law enforcement.”

On March 10, Castro, through counsel Bellas, asked the court to review Kennedy’s detention order and release him on certain conditions.

Bellas offered new evidence—the audio and video recording of the purported Nov. 6 drug transaction, disclosed by the U.S. government after the detention hearing—which he believed showed that the alleged threat to the confidential source was not credible.

Bellas said it is apparent that the persons depicted in the video are well known to each other and that the “threat” was made in a joking context or atmosphere.

The lawyer said all three people who are depicted in the video, one of whom is the confidential source, were laughing at the time the alleged threat is made.

Bellas also disclosed that Castro’s wife had just had a phone landline put in at their residence, which would make electronic home monitoring feasible.

Assistant U.S. attorney Rami Badawy disagreed and submitted a sealed copy of the recording and a transcript of the conversation translated from Chamorro to English.

Badawy said that during the Nov. 6 controlled buy in which Castro sold the confidential source a quantity of “ice,” Castro threatened to kill the confidential source if he finds out he is working with the FBI.

Badawy said the threat, made in Chamorro, was captured by an audio/video recording device worn by the confidential source.

He said the confidential source informed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force of the threat shortly after it happened and that the confidential source felt the threat was serious.

In her order, Manglona said she reviewed Kennedy’s findings and conclusions and read the transcript of the Feb. 26 detention hearing. Manglona also viewed and listened to the recording of the Nov. 6 conversation between Castro and the confidential source.

Manglona said she has independently reviewed Kennedy’s findings and conclusions and “agrees with them wholeheartedly.”

The judge determined that the U.S. government has proved by clear and convincing evidence that no combination of conditions of release can reasonably assure the safety of the confidential source and the community.