Finance’s motion to dismiss Torres’ lawsuit is placed under advisement

Superior Court Judge pro tem Arthur Barcinas has taken under advisement the arguments of both parties regarding the Department of Finance’s request to dismiss the petition filed by former governor Ralph DLG Torres that questioned the validity of the contract of special prosecutor James Kingman.

The department had sought to have the case dismissed for allegedly failing to state a claim. Torres’ lawsuit revolves around the validity of Kingman’s contract when he was initially hired to pursue the case against Torres as a special prosecutor. Kingman is now with the Office of the Attorney General as an assistant attorney general

During a hearing yesterday, Barcinas said he will be taking the arguments of both parties under advisement and will soon issue a ruling.

Barcinas; Torres’ lawyer, Anthony Aguon; and DOF’s lawyer, assistant attorney general Dustin Rollins, all appeared via video conference at the hearing.

Previously, the DOF, through Dustin Rollins, submitted a seven-page motion asking the Superior Court to dismiss Torres’ petition, which is seeking judicial review of the department’s decision regarding Kingman’s initial contract.

In his petition, Rollins asked the court to affirm Finance’s administrative order, which stated that it lacked authority to issue a declaratory order with regard to an existing contract.

“The petition must be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, because the DOF properly determined that it did not have authority to issue the declaratory ruling requested in the DOF petition,” Rollins said.

Rollins argued that if agencies were required to issue declaratory rulings for determinations already made, theoretically, any person, whether an interested party or not, would be entitled to request a ruling with respect to every contract ever entered into by the Commonwealth or any agency decision ever rendered.

“That, without question, would be an absurd result,” he said.

Torres’ petition comes after Finance Secretary Tract B. Norita declined to rule or address the merits of Torres’ request for a declaratory ruling that finds Kingman’s special prosecutor contract with the OAG invalid.

In addition, the agency ruling dismissed Torres’ request, finding that the department lacks the authority to issue a declaratory ruling because Kingman’s contract had already been signed.

As relief, Torres asked the Superior Court to vacate the DOF’s final agency decision on the grounds that the ruling was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law. The defense also wants the court to rule that the special prosecutor’s contract fails to comply with procurement regulations and is void.

Alternatively, Torres asked that the court set aside the DOF’s final agency ruling and remand the matter back to the agency for a decision on the merits of his request for declaratory relief.