Court to hear Torres’ request to prevent Kingman from prosecuting him

Former governor Ralph DLG Torres’ criminal case is moving forward with the Superior Court set to hold multiple hearings in this case starting today. One of the hearings will be pertaining to Torres’ previous request for declarator relief preventing assistant attorney general James Kingman from prosecuting his case.

Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Arthur Barcinas is set to hold multiple hearings in the criminal case against Torres which alleges 12 counts of misconduct in public office and one count of theft starting today until tomorrow afternoon.

On Tuesday, Dec. 19, Barcinas will hear Torres’ motion for declarator relief which seeks to prevent Kingman from prosecuting his case because he claims Kingman’s contract with the OAG is invalid and unlawful.

Kingman, for his part, argues that Torres’ motion for declaratory relief should be denied.

According to Torres’ motion, the attorney general lacks the authority to appoint and hire a special prosecutor for the misconduct in public office case filed against the former governor relating to first class travel.

Kingman, however, argues Torres’ motion was then and remains improper.

“Since the motion was filed, the Supreme Court has ruled on the ‘issue’ in a separate challenge to the special prosecutor’s admission pro hac vice; the contract at issue was terminated as the special prosecutor and the attorney general moved from a legal services contract to an employment contract. Because the motion is outside of what may be found in this case and has been mooted by law and events, it should be denied,” Kingman said.

On April 8, 2022, the AG’s office filed a criminal case against Torres, alleging 12 counts of misconduct in public office and one count of theft relating to the issuance of airline tickets for business class, first class, or other premium class travel for himself and/or Diann T. Torres, his wife.

The case also alleged one count of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a legislative subpoena.

However, in August 2022. Judge pro tem Alberto Tolentino dismissed the contempt charge against Torres.

Specifically, Tolentino found that chief solicitor J. Robert Glass, the head prosecutor in the criminal case against Torres, may have been exposed to privileged and confidential information that prevents Glass from prosecuting Torres for contempt, therefore the charge was dismissed.

Last month, Kingman filed a new suit against Torres which charges the former governor anew with contempt over his failure to comply with a legislative subpoena last December 2021.

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