Kingman refiles penal summons against Torres

With the Superior Court not pressing ahead with the arraignment of former governor Ralph DLG Torres in his new contempt case due to the improper service of the initial penal summons, assistant attorney general James Kingman has now refiled the summons in a do-over of the process.

The refiled penal summons, which Kingman submitted yesterday, now contains the information that charges Torres with contempt and misconduct in public office.

According to the new penal summons, Torres must appear before the Superior Court on Jan. 22, 2024, at 9am.

“If you do not appear, an application may be made for the issuance of a warrant for your arrest,” states the summons.

Last Monday, Superior Court judge pro tem Arthur Barcinas decided not to take action on the penal summons against Torres in the new contempt case filed against him due to the improper service of the summons. Specifically, the judge found that the summons was served without the case information informing Torres of the charges against him. That means it was not effectuated properly pursuant to CNMI rules of law and procedure.

Back in October, Kingman filed the new suit charging Torres anew with contempt over his failure to comply with a legislative subpoena last December 2021. This is the suit Torres is facing pursuant to this new penal summons.

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

According to Kingman, failure to appear in compliance with a subpoena is in violation of the Commonwealth Code; if found guilty, Torres could be fined by not more than $1,000 or imprisoned by not more than one year, or both.

This is not the first time the Office of the Attorney General 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.

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.

As for the motion to disqualify Glass from prosecuting Torres for the other 13 charges stated in the complaint, Tolentino found no conflict and denied the former governor’s motion.