AGO appears on behalf of Lang By MAR-VIC CAGURANGAN
Assistant Atty. General David Sosebee appeared at the Superior Court yesterday to represent former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio during the hearing on the motion for reconsideration seeking reversal of a special judge’s ruling which found the ex-governor liable for misuse of public funds.
Tenorio earlier asked the Superior Court that the scheduled hearing be taken off calendar pending resolution of the question of whether he is entitled to public legal representation. The court has not responded.
The Attorney General’s Office has sought to withdraw from Tenorio’s case, but Sosebee said the AGO was obligated to send an attorney to the hearing because the court hasn’t ruled on AGO’s motion for withdrawal.
“We went ahead and submitted our argument for the motion for reconsideration based on the legal papers that have already been filed. We didn’t make any additional or oral argument in support of that. It was a short hearing,” Sosebee said in an interview after the hearing.
In a pleading filed in the court last week, Tenorio insisted the AGO should be responsible for arguing the motion for reconsideration it had filed with the court.
He said he never approved the AGO’s “acid-toned” language in the brief, which he described as a mixture of “legal arguments with rhetoric and vituperative comments regarding the court’s decision.”
“I don’t think he was so concerned with the substance of the motion. He was just concerned with the phrasing of some of the things written in there. There’s no indication that he wanted us to withdraw it,” Sosebee said.
Sosebee maintained, however, that the AGO should no longer be responsible for Tenorio’s legal representation.
He said the CNMI’s Public Indemnification Act authorizes the government to provide legal services to a former public official or employee “only on certain circumstances.”
“The former governor does not fall within the guidelines,” Sosebee said.
Acting Atty. General Maya Kara earlier said her office ceased its obligation to represent Tenorio when Special Judge Benjamin Cruz ruled against the former governor on the $12.4 million taxpayer’s lawsuit filed by Jeanne Rayphand and Ted Mitchell.
Tenorio has hired lawyer Timothy Skinner to represent him in the public legal representation issue.
