Prosecution asks court to set Torres’ trial for October
The prosecution in the ongoing criminal case against former governor Ralph DLG Torres wants to move forward with trial and has asked that the Superior Court set a trial for October.
Last week, special prosecutor James Kingman filed a scheduling memorandum where he informed the Superior Court that the prosecution wants to proceed with trial in the ongoing criminal case against Torres sooner rather than later.
Kingman, in his memorandum, asked that Superior Court judge pro tem Arthur Barcinas consider a jury trial date in October and set a hearing for all pending pretrial motions within the month of August.
“The Commonwealth strongly prefers a hearing date on the pending pretrial motions as soon as possible, during August. The Commonwealth withdrew its request to amend the information to include additional charges. If only the 13 existing charges are going to go forward under this cause number, the trial will be limited in scope. October of 2023 would be ample time to get the appropriate witnesses reserved and to confirm their attendance. The Commonwealth anticipates a week of testimony from the Commonwealth on these charges,” he said.
The defense, for its part, has yet to file its scheduling memorandum.
However, back in June, the defense told the court that they would be proposing a trial date in April 2024 to give ample time for the court to rule on all pending motions in the case, including the motion to amend the information against Torres, the subpoena issued by the Office of the Attorney General for Torres’ financial records, the motion to disqualify special prosecutor James Kingman, and more.
In addition, the defense argues that a trial date 10 months from now would provide ample time to prepare for trial and to send out jury summons.
Initially the prosecution proposed a December 2023 trial date for a number of reasons.
According to Saipan Tribune archives, Torres has been charged by the CNMI Office of the Attorney General with 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 complaint also included theft charges related to the former governor’s travel expenses amounting to $20,000 between April 2018 and May 30, 2019, using public funds.
The case likewise alleged one count of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a legislative subpoena.
Torres has denied the charges.
In September 2022, judge pro tem Alberto Tolentino dismissed without prejudice the contempt charge against Torres.
Without prejudice means the charge can be refiled.
Ralph DLG Torres
