Inmate questions legality of his detention

A man who has been convicted of drug distribution charges in both the federal and CNMI courts is questioning the legality of his detention at the Department of Corrections.

Manabu Chizuwa recently filed with the Superior Court an application for writ of habeas corpus, impleading Corrections director Gregory F. Castro as defendant by virtue of his position.

A writ of habeas corpus asks the court to determine the legality of a person’s custody.

Chizuwa, through his attorney Joseph Horey, claimed that his incarceration at the DOC and conviction by the Superior Court violated his constitutional right against being put twice in jeopardy for the same offense.

According to Horey, the U.S. District Court had convicted Chizuwa after the latter pleaded guilty on Nov. 8, 2002 to distributing methamphetamine hydrochloride or “ice” on May 3 of that year. The federal court sentenced Chizuwa to five years imprisonment.

On April 30, 2003, Chizuwa also pleaded guilty to ice possession and conspiracy to possess ice on May 3, 2002 based on an agreement with government prosecutors, which was submitted to the CNMI Superior Court.

The CNMI court sentenced Chizuwa to five years imprisonment for ice possession and four years imprisonment for conspiracy. The court ruled that the prison terms should be served consecutively without the possibility of probation or parole. It ordered, however, that the prison terms should run concurrently with the federal sentence.

“Despite this order, however, Chizuwa’s sentence is not running concurrently with his federal sentence, because he has not yet even begun to serve the federal sentence,” Horey said.

“The incarceration pursuant to the local case is therefore contrary to the court’s order, and Chizuwa must be released to federal custody immediately, so that he can begin serving his federal and local sentences concurrently, and this court’s order can thus be complied with,” the lawyer said.

Moreover, Horey alleged that Chizuwa was put twice in jeopardy for the same offense, which the U.S. and CNMI constitutions prohibit.

“Since Chizuwa twice pled guilty, and his plea agreement was twice accepted by the court, he was ‘put twice in jeopardy,’” he said.

Horey also maintained the double jeopardy argument by saying that Chizuwa’s convictions on possession and conspiracy counts at the Superior Court constitute convictions for the same offense.

He asked the court to vacate the sentence on Chizuwa for the latter’s conviction for drug possession.