High court junks O'Connor's motion for stay of sentence
The Supreme Court denied on Friday a convict’s request for a stay of the trial court’s sentence on him.
Jefferson Weber O’Connor, who was found guilty of beating his wife Elisa Defunturon, had requested that his punishment be stayed so he could go back to Hawaii and continue his college studies while his appeal is pending in the high court.
In denying O’Connor’s motion, Supreme Court Associate Justice Alex Castro said the defendant failed to meet the “tests.”
In a single-page order, Castro wrote that a stay of sentence may be granted if the person seeking it could “demonstrate a combination of probable success on the merits and the possibility of irreparable injury,” or “that serious questions are raised and the balance of hardships tips sharply in the appellant’s favor.”
“In this case, the court finds that appeal has failed to address let along satisfy his burden in meeting either test,” Castro’s order stated.
The trial court had sentenced O’Connor to serve 100 hours of community service and pay the imposed fine.
His sentence does not include incarceration but O’Connor is not allowed to leave Saipan while serving the punishment term.
O’Connor appealed the trial court’s decision to the Supreme Court, hoping for the reversal of the trial court’s decision.
O’Connor is a full-time student preparing to return to Hawaii for his senior year.(MCM)
