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Court subpoenas OPA’s Sablan, three others
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Posted on Jan 14 2005
The CNMI Superior Court has subpoenaed Public Auditor Michael Sablan and three investigators from his office and the Attorney General’s Investigative Unit in connection with the criminal case against former congressman Stanley Torres.
Stanley Torres’ lawyers have asked the court to suppress evidence obtained during the Dec. 11, 2003 raid on the lawmaker’s office on the ground that it was conducted without a search warrant.
During the raid, OPA and AGIU investigators only served the congressman an affidavit by OPA investigator Richard Lamkin to support the issuance of the search warrant. The signature by Superior Court judge Kenneth Govendo on the document appeared to have only notarized the document.
The court compelled Sablan to appear before it and testify during a scheduled hearing on Feb. 16. It compelled Lamkin to appear before it not only to testify but also to produce evidence seized from Torres’ office, as well as his employment contract with the OPA.
Torres accused the OPA of violating the Government Ethics Code for failure to transmit a copy of any complaint against him to the standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over the complaint.
The court also subpoenaed AGIU investigators Joseph H. Race and Daniel G. Hocking to appear in the same hearing, compelling them to produce notes and correspondence relating to the investigation against Torres.
A Dec. 22, 2003 memorandum issued by then assistant attorney general Karen Severy to CNMI chief prosecutor David Hutton showed that the AGO knew that the purported warrant investigators served on Torres was defective.
Severy said Lamkin admitted being armed only with his affidavit without an attached warrant during the raid. Torres said the court has never issued a valid search warrant.
