Barcinas overrules opposition to his appointment

Superior Court Judge pro tem Arthur Barcinas has overruled assistant attorney general James Kingman’s objection to his appointment to preside over the new contempt suit filed against former governor Ralph DLG Torres.

Barcinas’ order yesterday said there was no legal basis for Kingman’s objection to his appointment.

“There being no legal basis for the objection, and the court not being otherwise disqualified by statute or the judicial code of conduct, the court hereby overrules the Commonwealth’s objection,” said Barcinas.

Kingman had argued that this case is the fourth one assigned to Barcinas regarding the same events and that one of the four cases is a civil case where Torres is challenging the Commonwealth’s contract with Kingman.

“Cases involving the same issues of fact and law should not be decided with different standards or at different levels in different proceedings in front of the same decider,” the objection states.

Barcinas says Kingman offers no statute, case law, or other legal precedent to substantiate any of these arguments.

“The court is bound by the procedures which appointed it to this and other related cases, and…Kingman’s objection, which has been filed with the Clerk of Court, is otherwise silent as to any other procedures. Per statute, the court’s appointment may only be undone by self-recusal or a motion for disqualification, which…Kingman has not filed, and self-recusal is appropriate only if the court finds there are statutory grounds for its disqualification, of which there are none. Therefore, while the court notes the Commonwealth’s objection to its appointment in this case, any actionable argument for the court’s disqualification must be properly brought through motion and based on valid grounds for disqualification,” said Barcinas.

Kingman also argued in his objection that procedural delay will occur in this case because the progress of the pending criminal case against Torres has “slowed dramatically” since its assignment to Barcinas.

“The cases to which this court has been appointed have slowed dramatically compared to other pro tempore appointments, which has affected the effective and just administration of the courts,” Kingman’s objection states.

To this, Barcinas said the court’s time management of its various cases are within the province and discretion of the court.

“In this regard, the court has diligently processed this matter and properly exercised its discretionary authority, particularly in light of the interruptions to the court’s operations due to Typhoon Mawar, the severe increase in the court’s backlog resulting therefrom, interim changes to the court’s staff, the complexities of inheriting a case midway through its proceedings, and the various complications incidental to defendant’s challenging…Kingman’s ability to practice pro hac vice in the Commonwealth. The court’s deliberation in this case is a matter of circumstance, and not, as…Kingman seems to imply, an inherent quality of the court affecting all proceedings, and Kingman has no basis of comparison for the pace of these proceedings as he has only ever appeared before this particular court for this particular nexus of events. Indeed, were…Kingman to bring this objection before any other judge or justice within the NMI Judiciary, it might be construed as frivolous. In the event that the court tends toward longer periods of deliberation, it lies within the court’s discretion to do so, and the court will continue to diligently discharge its duties,” said Barcinas.

Last month, the Office of the Attorney General, through Kingman, filed a new lawsuit against Torres in Superior Court charging him with contempt over his failure to comply with a legislative subpoena last December 2021.

Aside from contempt, Kingman also charged Torres with misconduct in public office for failing to appear in compliance with the legislative subpoena.

This was not the first time the OAG filed a contempt suit against Torres, but that initial charge was dismissed in August 2022.

Judge pro tem Alberto Tolentino’s order granted, in part, and denied, in part, Torres’ motion for the withdrawal or disqualification of the OAG as a prosecutor. It was in this order that the judge dismissed the contempt charge against Torres.

James Robert Kingman

Ralph DLG Torres