Previous Story
Michael Jackson files complaint against 8th counsel
9th counsel appointed for his rape case
Michael Anthony Jackson has filed a disciplinary complaint against his eighth court-appointed counsel, prompting the Superior Court yesterday to appoint a new counsel to represent him in the case charging him for kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old girl on Saipan.
At a status conference yesterday, court-appointed counsel Mun Su Park requested the court to continue trial in Jackson’s case and appoint a new counsel for the defendant.
According to Park, Jackson has filed a disciplinary complaint against him before the CNMI Bar Disciplinary Committee, which is likely to impair the client-lawyer relationship or the lawyer’s ability to represent the client.
Park said having considered the concerns of CNMI taxpayers paying attorney’s fees for indigent defendant, he will waive attorney’s fees in representing Jackson in this case.
Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho granted Park’s motion and appointed attorney Tiberius Mucano as Jackson’s new court-appointed counsel.
Camacho noted that Jackson had filed disciplinary complaint against his seven other court-appointed counsels in this case.
Camacho vacated the jury trial set for March 7, 2016, and set a status conference for March 9, 2016, at 9am.
On April 26, 2013, the jury found Jackson guilty of kidnapping and sexual assault in the first degree. Camacho, who decided on the misdemeanor charge, also found the defendant guilty of assault.
On May 15, 2013, Camacho slapped the then-34-year-old Jackson with a jail maximum term of 40 years and six months without possibility of parole.
Jackson then appealed. He asked the CNMI high court to reverse his convictions and remand the matter for a new trial, or in the alternative for re-sentencing.
At the appeal hearing, Park argued as court-appointed counsel for Jackson. Then-assistant attorney general Graef Clayton argued for the government’s opposition.
Last Dec. 30, the CNMI Supreme Court reversed the conviction and remanded Jackson’s case to Superior Court for a new trial.
The justices ruled that Camacho erred in not repeating substantive jury instructions at the close of evidence.
The justices said closing instructions allow the jury to focus on the law, the evidence, and its responsibilities in order to arrive at a proper determination.
Police said the girl was walking along Tun Joaquin Doi Road in Finasisu from an Internet café and was on her way home on Oct. 9, 2010, at about 1am when Jackson forced her into his car, brought her to an open field at the Franciso C. Ada-Saipan International Airport, and raped her inside his car. He then forced the girl to smoke methamphetamine or “ice.”
The girl later managed to run away, police said.
