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OAG 2022 report: Substantial progress in executing arrest warrants for cases of felony, family violence
Edward Manibusan
The Office of the Attorney General’s 2022 Annual Report shows that its Criminal Division made substantial progress in executing arrest warrants for felony cases and all cases involving family violence.
In the OAG’s report for 2022 that was submitted to Senate President Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan), Attorney General Edward E. Manibusan stated that they drafted a number of key legislations in their work with the Legislature to improve the enforcement of the CNMI’s criminal laws, child support, and others to bring the Commonwealth up to par with other states and territories.
“As we move forward, the Office of the Attorney General will keep focus on keeping our community safe and secure and continue to provide legal services and tools to assist the Executive Branch and agencies of our government perform their duties to the highest level,” said Manibusan in the report.
According to the report’s criminal case statistics, of the 6,500 new cases, the bulk were traffic cases with 5,985. There were 194 felonies, 293 misdemeanors, and 28 juvenile cases, for a total of 515 criminal cases.
A total of 6,275 cases were received on Saipan, 67 on Rota, and 158 on Tinian.
By offenses, the bulk of the cases were crimes against persons/family violence with 206. The second highest were general crimes, 148; followed by property crimes, 94; drugs, 31; and firearms, five. No public corruption case was received.
On case status, 5,013 entered guilty pleas, 35 went to bench trials, 20 to jury trials, and 1,129 are pending.
Of the 35 bench trials, 26 were found guilty, seven were dismissed, one was acquitted, and one case is pending.
Of the 20 jury trials, none was found guilty, one was acquitted, and 19 are pending.
The OAG report stated that cases are being expedited through a program of making an early offer in exchange for waiver of a preliminary hearing and trial.
The OAG said the majority of criminal cases are successfully concluded with a guilty plea and agreed punishment recommendation.
