OAG offers Torres plea deal

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres leaves the courtroom after a status conference yesterday before Superior Court judge pro temp Alberto Tolentino at the Guma Hustisia. (KIMBERLY B. ESMORES)

The Office of the Attorney General has proposed a plea agreement in the criminal suit filed by Attorney General Edward Manibusan against Gov. Ralph DLG Torres for alleged misconduct in office and theft.

During a status conference yesterday before Superior Court judge pro temp Alberto Tolentino, the OAG, through Chief Solicitor Robert Glass Jr., informed the court that it has offered Torres a plea agreement with a deadline to respond by Dec. 30.

“We have offered a plea agreement [and] the deadline to respond is Dec. 30. We don’t intend to offer anything else after this,” said Glass.

Following the hearing, local media outlets tried to get Glass to divulge details about the proposed plea agreement that has yet to be filed in court, but he chose not to comment at this time.

Torres, who was present, yielded to his attorney, Victorino Torres, regarding the plea agreement and where they stand on the matter, but Torres said he would not comment at this time.

Aside from the plea agreement, a matter discussed at length during the status conference was the trial date and jury selection.

Tolentino set a jury trial date in this case for Feb. 13, despite the opposition of the defense.

The jury trial was initially supposed to begin on July 5 but the date has since been vacated.

“This matter has been pending for over 10 months. I have to get the ball rolling on this matter. The court order stands, the jury trial for this case will begin on Feb. 13,” said Tolentino.

Back in April, the Office of the Attorney General filed criminal charges against Torres alleging 12 counts of misconduct in public office and one count of theft relating to the issuance of airline tickets for premium class travel for himself and/or first lady Diann T. Torres. The governor was also accused of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a legislative subpoena.

Back in August, Tolentino issued multiple orders in this criminal suit, one of which was an order to grant, in part, and deny, in part, Torres’ motion for the withdrawal or disqualification of the Office of the Attorney General as a prosecutor.

It was in this motion that the judge ordered the dismissal of the contempt charge against Torres.

Specifically, Tolentino found that Glass, the head prosecutor in the criminal case against Torres, may have been exposed to privileged and confidential information that prevents him from prosecuting Torres for contempt, therefore the charge was dismissed.

In the upcoming jury trial, Torres will only be tried on 12 counts of misconduct in public office and one count of theft relating to the issuance of airline tickets for premium class travel for himself and/or the first lady.