Supreme Court denies motion for post-trial motion

The CNMI Supreme Court has affirmed a Superior Court’s order denying the post-trial motion of a person convicted of aggravated assault and battery.

In a ruling dated Sept. 8, the High Court denied Thomas Ch. Basa’s appeal, saying that the adult criminal court had jurisdiction over the case, although he was 16 years old when he committed the crime.

Likewise, the High Court ruled that the trial court did not abuse its discretion for not holding a “Kastigar” hearing.

A Kastigar hearing means that, once a defendant has testified under a grant of statutory immunity, the government has the burden to prove that any evidence it intends to use against the defendant is taken from a source independent of immunized statements.

Basa, one of the three suspects tried in the killing of security guard Cesario P. Valerio in 1999, appealed his conviction, claiming that the adult trial court lacked jurisdiction over him since he was a minor, and insisted that he was entitled to a full evidentiary hearing.

The Supreme Court ruling, signed by chief justice Miguel S. Demapan, associate justice Alexandro C. Castro, and justice pro tempore Jesus C. Borja, provides that the adult trial court had jurisdiction over the aggravated assault and battery charge even without a transfer hearing because it “is a lesser-included offense of murder, an enumerated offense, for which jurisdiction is automatically removed from the juvenile court.”

It said that generally the juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction over all juvenile delinquency proceedings. However, it said that the law provides that a minor accused of certain offenses such as murder, rape, or a traffic offense must be treated in the same manner as an adult.

The High Court also ruled that the trial court had sufficient reasons to conclude that the government had met its burden of proof based on evidence that was derived from a source independent of immunized statements.

“Accordingly, the trial [court] did not abuse its discretion nor did it make a clear error,” said the High Court.

The Superior Court had determined that Basa was a co-conspirator in the mauling and eventual death of Valerio. Other defendants included Eugene Repeki Jr. and Anthony B. Magofna.

During Repeki’s trial, both Basa and Magofna had testified against Repeki.

The victim was a security guard on duty at Courtney’s Plaza Commercial Bldg. in Chalan Kanoa.

Police investigation showed that all three took turns hitting Valerio with a two-feet ashtray, which caused a fracture in his skull.