Judge wants Brown’s name in Stanley case

Superior Court judge Juan T. Lizama yesterday reiterated his earlier ruling directing the Attorney General’s Office to amend the criminal information against ex-congressman Stanley Torres so it would bear the name of attorney general Pamela Brown.

Lizama issued the ruling a day after the AGO sought to clarify the judge’s May 25, 2004 ruling that ordered prosecutors to amend the charging documents to officially disclose the AG’s name.

In that ruling, Lizama also junked the request of Torres and two other co-defendants to quash the charging documents that did not bear Brown’s name.

Torres has been at odds with Brown and had opposed her nomination as attorney general. Brown had just been confirmed to the post when the charges against the congressman were filed in court. The AGO claimed that the investigation against the congressman began even before Brown was confirmed.

Lizama granted the AGO’s request for clarification on the May 25 ruling, but stressed that it was clear.

“The court is frankly baffled as to why the government is so reluctant to provide this information [attorney general’s name] on the record. The identity of the person occupying the attorney general’s office at the time of filing is well known and disclosing it officially in no way harms the government’s case,” Lizama said.

“The court’s may 25th order was clear and simple: the defendants have a right to be told, on the record, the name of the attorney general under whose authority they are being prosecuted,” the judge said. “The government now has a clear and simple choice: it can comply with the court’s order, or it can dismiss the charges.”

Deputy Attorney General Clyde Lemons Jr. and CNMI chief prosecutor David Hutton signed the charging documents—not Brown.

Lemons and Hutton had sought clarification of Lizama’s May 25 ruling, saying a defendant should be entitled to know the identity of the attorney general if this is relevant to the defense. They said that Torres and his co-defendants have not shown the relevance of the inclusion of the attorney general’s identity in the charging documents. The prosecutors also asked as to what stage of the criminal proceedings the issue should be brought to court.

Lizama said there is no need for an evidentiary proceeding to resolve the relevance issue.

“In the May 25th ruling, the court concluded that a criminal defendant has the right to know under whose authority a prosecution is occurring, but only if he or she asks. The only showing that needs to be made is a desire for the information and that burden has clearly been met,” the judge said.

“”As the court has ordered the government to disclose this [attorney general’s name] on the record as this point in the proceeding, it seems obvious that ‘prior to arraignment and entry of plea’ is an appropriate time,” he added.

Lemons and Hutton charged Torres with five counts each of misconduct in public office, conspiracy to commit theft, conspiracy to commit theft by deception and illegal use of public supplies, services, time and personnel.

They filed against Sablan five counts each of the last three offenses. Additionally, the prosecutors filed five counts each of theft, theft by deception and receiving stolen property against her.

Ada faces four counts each of conspiracy to commit theft and conspiracy to commit theft by deception, and illegal use of public supplies, services, time and personnel.

The criminal information alleged that Sablan received at least five checks totaling $5,384.67 in government payroll in 2003, when she was actually off-island. Sablan used to be Stanley Torres’ office manager. Ada allegedly prepared fraudulent time and attendance sheets indicating that Sablan rendered work when she was off-island.