New evidence in parole chief’s trial

The bench trial in the forgery and misconduct in public office case against parole chief Nick Masga Reyes entered Day 2 yesterday with the prosecution admitting new evidence found stowed away at the Parole Board office.

Reyes’ bench trial before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph Camacho dragged on and what was expected to be a day filled with witness testimonies, turned into a day filled with back-to-back breaks to resolve issues regarding the admission of late discovery.

When the court reconvened yesterday morning to move forward with witness testimonies, the prosecution, led by assistant attorney general James Kingman, informed the court that new evidence had been brought to light just that morning.

It was later learned that the evidence—over 30 pages of documents related to a Request for Personnel Action for an extension of Reyes’ contract dated Nov. 21, 2023—was given to the prosecution by parole officer Shirlene Laniyo.

Kingman, for his part, asked that the court grant the prosecution a continuance to further investigate pursuant to the newfound evidence.

Kingman argued that in trial, it is not unusual for new evidence to arise during the course of it, and added that the prosecution is entitled to a continuance to give the government enough time to investigate.

However, Reyes’ defense lawyers, Joaquin Torres and Matthew Holley, told the court that they did not want a continuance and the only remedy was to exclude the newfound evidence or for the court to dismiss the case and declare a mistrial.

After listening to both parties, Camacho gave the prosecution 15 minutes—despite Kingman’s multiple attempts to argue why a continuance is necessary to further review documents—to review the evidence and to speak with its witnesses about is stating that he has been accommodating enough.

“You charged Mr. Reyes with misconduct in public office, four counts of forgery. He’s here now for his day in court. You charged the person, at the very least, as a prosecutor, you [should] have the amount of evidence [you need] to move forward with trial. So, we’re going to take 15 minutes. I’ve been very accommodating to both parties. Now, you can take these few minutes to review these documents so we can move forward with some type of witness and make use of this day,” he said.

After the court reconvened at around 4:15pm, the prosecution called its third witness, Laniyo, to speak on when and how she prepared them, why it was only brought to light during trial, and who instructed her to prepare them.

After about an hour of questioning, the court called for recess and is set to reconvene today at 9am.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, Kingman filed last February two separate cases against Reyes—one count of misconduct in public office and four counts of forgery.

Reyes allegedly forged and altered, on or about Dec. 20, 2023, the terms of employment of a person from 30 days to one year. This offense is punishable by imprisonment of not more than five years.

Also, Reyes and co-defendant Chuilian Fu are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office, one count of conspiracy to commit theft by deception, and two counts of theft by deception in relation to the authorization of funds for the construction of a patio.

In this case, Reyes and Fu allegedly agreed last Oct. 4, 2022, to build a patio at the Parole Office that was to be built by a tailoring company owned by Fu, F&S Corp., in the amount of $9,997.80. In reality though, the patio was allegedly built using unpaid labor performed by parolees under the direction of Reyes.

Reyes has pleaded not guilty in both cases.