Stanley lauds Lemons but insists on prosecutorial misconduct

Former congressman Stanley Torres lauded deputy attorney general Clyde Lemons Jr. for conceding on the warrantless Dec. 11, 2003 search on the lawmaker’s office, but not without chiding the prosecution for filing a criminal case against him at the Superior Court.

Lemons had conceded that evidence obtained from the warrantless search should be barred from Torres’ trial. The prosecutor had also agreed that evidence obtained in another raid on Feb. 25, 2004 should also be suppressed.

Torres’ lawyer, former attorney general Robert Torres, lamented the alleged misconduct by the prosecution in bringing the case to court.

“What is relevant is that the prosecution knew of the constitutional violations which occurred on Dec. 11, 2003 and which continued into Feb. 25, 2004. …The prosecution was aware of [the misconduct] when it filed an information a month later based on illegally obtained evidence,” Robert Torres said in a court document.

“On top of that, the prosecution tendered the illegally obtained evidence in its Rule 16 discovery production. The criticism by Mr. [Stanley] Torres of such conduct is not thinly veiled nor is it gratuitous. Rather such facts establish misconduct of constitutional proportions—which is hardly an understatement,” he added.

Robert Torres also disagreed with Lemons’ contention that, although the evidence from both raids should be barred from trial, they could be used to impeach the credibility of witnesses.

“It is the height of audacity for the prosecution to point to illegally obtained evidence for impeachment purposes and citing case law, in the face of constitutional transgressions,” Robert Torres said.

He asserted that the Attorney General’s Investigative Unit and the Office of Public Auditor disregarded Stanley Torres’ constitutional right to privacy.

He asked the court to declare that OPA and AGIU personnel violated the Constitution by conducting a search without a warrant, besides asking for an order suppressing evidence obtained from the raids.

Robert Torres also said that the prosecution has not filed a bill of particulars as ordered by the court, which would provide a more definite statement about the charges Stanley Torres is being accused of.

Torres and co-defendant Dorothy Sablan, who used to be the lawmaker’s office manager, are facing multiple charges of conspiracy to commit theft, conspiracy to commit theft by deception, and illegal use of public supplies, services, time and personnel.

Stanley Torres also faces multiple counts of misconduct in public office charges, while prosecutors have also charged Sablan with multiple counts of theft, theft by deception and receiving stolen property.

The AGO filed the charges against Torres, Sablan, and Frank Ada sometime in March 2004. The court later dismissed the charges against Ada, who used to be a legislative staff, without prejudice to their refilling.

Lemons had accused Torres and Sablan of conspiring to make it appear that Sablan was working for Torres when she was actually off-island.