PSS commissioner’s motion to dismiss traffic case denied

Sablan

Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has denied Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan’s motion to dismiss the traffic case filed against her.

Camacho ordered Sablan and the Office of the Attorney General to appear at a status conference on Feb. 25, 2016, at 1:30pm.

In an order on Friday, Camacho ruled that the term “government vehicle” is not unconstitutionally vague. He said a government vehicle is a vehicle owned or leased by the CNMI government.

Proving whether the vehicle in question is a government vehicle is “substantially founded upon and intertwined with evidence concerning the alleged offense,” and thus must be reserved for the ultimate finder of fact at trial, Camacho said.

At trial, Camacho said, the government will present evidence, if any, as to whether Sablan drove a government vehicle in violation of the Commonwealth Code.

Last Jan. 15, 2015, Sablan was cited with three counts of violating the government vehicle provisions of the Commonwealth Code: driving a government vehicle that does not bear a government license plate; driving an unmarked government vehicle; and operating a government vehicle with tinting on its windows.

Sablan pleaded not guilty of the charges.

The vehicle in question is a white four-door 2011 Honda Accord sedan that is registered to “Joeten Motor Lease Dept.” and is leased to the Public School System.

In Sablan’s motion to dismiss the case, attorney Brien Sers Nicholas argued that the traffic law alleged to have been violated “is vague, constitutionally vague, and unclear.”

“It is not possible to have a leased vehicle being claimed is a private but owned by the government. That’s how the law is played,” Nicholas said.

He said in order for that law to be enforced it has to be a government vehicle and that leased vehicles don’t qualify.

Camacho conducted an evidentiary hearing last Aug. 27.

Assistant attorney general Emily Cohen, counsel for the government, said the argument in this case is that the Vehicle Act as prescribed in 1 CMC 7406 is constitutional and that it should be abided by all government officials.

Cohen argued that under the statute, a government vehicle is defined as “vehicle owned or leased by the Commonwealth government or any of its branches or political subdivisions, including autonomous agencies, government corporations, boards, and commissions.”

Cohen said no matter what the lease agreement says, a person cannot circumvent the law and that the contract does not relieve a person from complying with the law.

The prosecution alleged that the lease of this car began Jan. 1, 2014 and Sablan was stopped by Police Sgt. Anthony Macaranas on Jan. 15, 2015, so the government is legally the owner of the vehicle.

In denying Sablan’s motion, Camacho said a vehicle’s owner, under the Vehicle Code, includes the Commonwealth government in situations where the government leases a vehicle for more than 12 months.

Camacho said when a vehicle is titled to the Commonwealth or is being leased by the Commonwealth, then the Commonwealth Code requires that the vehicle be in compliance with 1 CMC Section 7406 by virtue of the government’s lease or ownership of the vehicle.