AGO: Court may have erred in Blas case

The Attorney General’s Office said the Superior Court may have erred when it stated that 17-year-old Raymond Blas—who was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving for a vehicular mishap that resulted in the death of a 13-year-old boy—was not entitled to a pre-sentence report.

CNMI chief prosecutor David Hutton and assistant attorney general Grant D. Sanders asked the court to correct the record and afford the defendant the opportunity to request for a pre-sentence report.

A pre-sentence report is a material prepared by a probation department to assist the trial court in sentencing a convicted defendant. Such report usually includes prior convictions and prior arrests, if any, employment and education history, and family and social background.

“Upon reflection on the court’s comments, the Commonwealth [AGO] believes the Superior Court may have been incorrect in its statement that the defendant is not entitled to a pre-sentence report,” the prosecutors said.

“This is because, under the charging instrument in this case, the defendant’s conviction for DUI is a felony. Because of the penalties for this charge, however, it cannot be tried to a jury under Commonwealth law.”

The prosecutors asserted that the applicable penalty for conviction on DUI is “a fine of not less than $1,000 [or imprisonment of] not more than five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.”

The prosecutors said, however, that the court was correct in ruling that the defendant does not have the right to a pre-sentence investigation on his conviction on reckless driving.

They said that reckless driving entails a penalty of up to $1,000 fine and imprisonment of not more than six months.

They asked the court to set a status conference on the case to afford the defendant the opportunity to request for a pre-sentence investigation. Associate Judge Juan T. Lizama earlier set Blas’ sentencing on Nov. 17.

The prosecutors said the judge could postpone the sentencing if the defendant chooses to have a pre-sentence report prepared.

A jury acquitted Blas on vehicular homicide, but the judge determined him guilty of DUI and reckless driving.

Blas was driving a pickup truck in the wee hours after Christmas Day—or on Dec. 26, 2004—when the vehicle slammed into a light post. The13-year-old victim, who was among his passengers, was thrown out of the vehicle due to the impact.

Sanders said the victim was rushed to the Commonwealth Health Center, but the boy eventually died.