Babauta, Lemons run to Brown’s defense

Gov. Juan N. Babauta has come to the aid of his embattled attorney general, submitting to the Superior Court a sworn declaration that Pamela Brown never assumed her position in an acting capacity until she was sworn into office.

Babauta and deputy attorney general Clyde Lemons Jr. both submitted their sworn declarations, claiming that Brown only assumed the attorney general post beginning Dec. 5, 2003 after she was sworn into office.

Brown’s attorneys had claimed that the 90-day deadline within which the Senate should confirm her did not apply to her case because she never assumed the post in an acting capacity.

This came as the Superior Court readies to look into the legitimacy of Brown as attorney general in connection with the controversial dispute on the $3.45 million land compensation claim by the Malite estate.

Babauta told the court that he had to decide whether Brown should start serving as attorney general or not when her nomination was pending in the Senate.

“I decided that she should not serve as acting attorney general. Instead, I decided that she should remain my legal counsel and Mr. Lemons should continue in the role of acting AG,” Babauta said.

Babauta noted previous problems that arose from the nomination of appointed attorney generals, particularly the case of former attorney general Maya Kara.

“I understand that former Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio repeatedly appointed Maya Kara to serve as acting [attorney general] for 90-day periods when he was governor…to circumvent the 90-day temporary appointment limitation,” the governor said.

In Kara’s case, the governor then had to appoint another person for the attorney general post after the court ruled that Kara could not serve as AG, noted Babauta.

Babauta said he had wanted to avoid a similar fate for Brown should the Senate fail to confirm her nomination within 90 days.

“Because of my desire to avoid a Maya Kara-type situation and my comfort with Mr. Lemons’ temporarily serving as acting AG, I decided that Ms. Brown should not serve as acting [attorney general] during the pendency of her nomination. Looking back at the events that transpired, I made the right decision,” Babauta said.

Babauta and Lemons separately declared that the latter served as acting attorney general when Ramona Manglona vacated the position following her appointment as Superior Court judge.

Lemons said he managed the AGO since then and made all decision regarding the office’s legal opinions, litigation, and personnel matters, among others, until Brown assumed her post in December 2003.

Lemons admitted that he interacted with Brown when he was acting attorney general, while the latter was still the governor’s legal counsel.

The Malite estate, the Marianas Public Lands Authority, its board, and commissioner Edward DeLeon Guerrero had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed against them by Brown on the ground that she is occupying her post unlawfully. Brown’s lawsuit against the estate and the MPLA defendants seeks to block the disbursement of some $3.45 million in land compensation claim to the estate.

The 90-day deadline after Brown’s June 16, 2003 nomination fell on Sept. 14, 2003, when the Senate had yet to act on it. On Sept. 17, 2003, a Senate faction composed of four members explicitly rejected Brown’s nomination. However, another Senate faction composed of five members convened on Nov. 17, 2003 and affirmed Brown’s nomination.