Kingman: No basis for me to be disqualified

As the defense argues that assistant attorney general James Kingman should be disqualified from prosecuting former governor Ralph DLG Torres in an ongoing contempt case, Kingman counters that there is no basis for his disqualification.

Yesterday, Superior Court judge pro tem Arthur Barcinas held a hearing to discuss the motions pending in the ongoing contempt case against former governor Torres.

One of the pending motions before the court is a motion filed by Torres’ attorney Joaquin Torres seeking the disqualification of the Office of the Attorney General and Kingman from prosecuting the case.

The defense argues that they are concerned about Kingman’s impartiality because of his association with chief solicitor Robert Glass who was disqualified in a similar case.

In an interview with Kingman after the hearing, he stated that there is no basis for his disqualification.

“There is not a basis for me to be disqualified. It’s not on the prosecutor to lay out the rule ‘why you should be on the case.’ I was admitted to the bar on a provisional license. I was made a special prosecutor on this matter. the prior prosecutor assigned on this matter was the only one disqualified from the case and I am not him. The whole basis of that [disqualification] was the role of the AG’s office as advisor [to the governor] long before I was on the island or even heard the names of the principles. It’s hard for me to see what the basis would be…for removing me from the case as they had Mr. [Robert] Glass,” he said.

Kingman said that he intends to file a written response to the motion seeking his disqualification in time for the motion hearing.

“I’ll respond to their motion to disqualify me, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before, and I’ll proceed with the necessary steps to move these cases down the road. The judge issued an opinion last Friday regarding the justification for ordering a probable cause determination hearing which was originally set for [April 15] then he vacated the hearing… and instead held a scheduling conference and all that was scheduled was the briefing for the motion that was filed last Thursday which was the [defense’s] motion to disqualify the OAG from the case… and to disqualify me. It sounds as if the judge would rather address their motion about disqualification before getting to the matter of determining probable cause,” he said.

Last Thursday, Joaquin Torres filed a motion seeking the disqualification of Kingman and the entire OAG from prosecuting the contempt case filed against the former governor late last year.

Joaquin Torres argues that there is a clear and pressing needing for the disqualification of Kingman and the entire OAG due to alleged systemic failures to adhere to ethical standards and judicial directives that essentially compromised the impartiality of the prosecutorial process.

Back in April 2022, the OAG, through attorney Glass, charged Torres with 12 counts of misconduct in public office, one count of theft, and one count of contempt pursuant to a legislative subpoena.

On Aug. 23, 2022, Superior Court judge pro tem Alberto Tolentino found that Glass “is disqualified from prosecuting defendant for contempt based upon exposure to confidential information in the legislative subpoena.”

Back in November 2023, Kingman refiled the contempt charge against Torres.

Now, the defense is arguing that Kingman’s mere association with Glass raises concerns about impartiality.

“Therefore, the mere association of Kingman with Glass, given the latter’s disqualification for exposure to confidential information, suffices to raise valid concerns under the Trone standard (The Trone decision articulates a standard focusing on the risk of information misuse, rather than its actual occurrence). It introduces the risk—or at least the appearance of risk—that Kingman could leverage undisclosed, privileged insights gained by Glass, thus compromising the fairness of the proceedings against Torres. In light of these considerations, this court is justified in seeking disqualification as a means to preempt any undue advantage and to uphold the ethical and procedural integrity of the trial,” said the defense.

In addition, the defense argues that the need to disqualify the entire OAG in prosecuting Torres for contempt extends beyond the problematic association between Kingman and Glass.

“It is rooted in the OAG’s broader incapacity to maintain ethical integrity and uphold its prosecutorial responsibilities. This predicament is exacerbated by the OAG’s involvement in offering legal counsel on legislative subpoenas—counsel directly contributing to the foundation of the contempt charge and creating a conflict of interest that cannot be overlooked,” said Joaquin Torres.

James Kingman