Manglona: Mendiola cannot plead the fifth in Atalig trial

Manglona

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has determined that Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services Commissioner Dennis James C. Mendiola has no valid basis for asserting the Fifth Amendment privilege if he is called to testify at the trial of Rota Mayor Efraim M. Mendiola and his girlfriend, Evelyn Atalig.

The U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment protects persons from being forced to incriminate themselves. To plead the fifth means to refuse to answer a question at a criminal trial on the grounds that you might incriminate yourself.

According to the minutes of Monday’s in-chamber hearing, Manglona ruled that, based on Mendiola’s expected testimony, he does not have a Fifth Amendment right to silence at the trial. No other details were provided in the minutes of the hearing, referred to as an in-camera hearing, which refers to a proceeding carried out in private or in the absence of the public or media for the purposes of sensitivity.

Bruce Berline appeared as the court-appointed counsel for Mendiola, who is being referred to by the court as a material witness.

It was Efraim Atalig, through his lawyer, David Banes, who asked the court to make the determination in Mendiola’s case. The U.S. government did not oppose the request.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Magistrate Judge and Clerk of Court Heather L. Kennedy summoned Mendiola to appear at the in-camera hearing.

Mendiola used to serve as Rota DFEMS deputy commissioner. He was among the eight Rota officials, including Efraim Atalig, that the Office of the Attorney General had charged with misconduct in public office before the Superior Court. The OAG, however, later dropped the charge against Mendiola and can no longer re-file the case against him.

The Superior Court case was filed over an alleged Republican rally in Guam in June 2018 that Efraim Atalig and others allegedly attended in the guise of a legitimate government trip.

Mendiola was not charged in the Ataligs’ case in federal court.

The jury trial of Efraim and Evelyn Atalig, will finally start at the new U.S. Courthouse building in Gualo Rai on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 10am.

The charges in District Court against Efraim and Evelyn Atalig involve at least eight trips taken by the couple at different times in 2018 to Guam, Palau, the U.S. mainland, South Korea, and Saipan.