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Claiming ineffective counsel, woman sues for her early release from prison
A woman who is serving a 20-year prison term for running over her former husband and assaulting him with a frying pan is suing for her early release from prison, claiming she was deprived of effective assistance from her previous counsel on appeal.
Carmelita Guiao, through Joseph E. Horey, asked the Superior Court to grant her petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Guiao named acting DOC commissioner Lino Tenorio as a respondent in her application for writ of habeas corpus filed yesterday in court.
Horey said a criminal defendant has the right to effective assistance of counsel. He said Guiao did not get this in her appeal. In fact, he said, the CNMI Supreme Court declined to even consider the merits of her appeal because it was ineffectively presented.
Court records show that attorney Vicente T. Salas served as counsel for Guiao in that appeal.
Horey said the high court found that Guiao’s briefs were devoid of legal analysis and authority.
Horey said a person is unlawfully imprisoned, and entitled to a writ of habeas corpus when he or she is imprisoned despite being denied effective assistance by appellate counsel. The lawyer said Guiao is in that situation.
In August 2012, a jury found Guiao guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon. The court found her guilty of assault, criminal mischief, and disturbing the peace. The case pertains to her assaulting her common-law husband with a hot frying pan on New Year’s Eve.
She was sentenced to a total of 20 years imprisonment. She appealed her convictions. In 2015, the CNMI Supreme Court affirmed Guiao’s assault with a dangerous weapon conviction and reversed her assault conviction in the hot frying pan case. The matter was remanded to the Superior Court for a new trial. Guiao remains incarcerated.
