Lawyers battle in closing

Prosecution and defense attorneys in the federal jury trial of police officers Charley K. Patris and Eric John Tudela Mafnas will battle for the jurors’ hearts and minds when they present their closing arguments today.

A federal indictment has accused Patris and Mafnas of conspiring to steal money and illegal drugs from the Department of Public Safety.

Lawyer Perry Inos represents Patris, while lawyers Stephanie Flores and Victorino Torres represent Mafnas. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie Bowers and Timothy Moran are prosecuting the case.

Yesterday, Patris took the witness stand and admitted that Mafnas obtained $1,000 from the Attorney General’s Investigative Unit for police operations. Patris said that he was aware about Mafnas’ taking the money, being the latter’s supervisor.

On cross examination by federal prosecutor Jamie Bowers, Patris also admitted that he knew that Mafnas never turned in unused money to the AGIU. But Patris denied that the AGIU had been bugging him about the unreturned money.

Bowers pressed Patris to disclose where the money was, to which the witness replied, “I don’t know.”

The prosecutors have accused Mafnas of stealing from the DPS evidence room some 46 grams of ice sometime on May 13, 2003.

The indictment charged Mafnas and Patris with conspiracy to commit theft, perjury and to make false statements, as well as theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. It accused the policemen of embezzling properties valued at over $5,000 from April 2002 through December 2003, which were in the custody of the DPS, an agency that received more than $10,000 in federal funds annually.

The indictment had also charged the two policemen and another person, Carl Cabrera, with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least five grams of ice sometime in 2003. It separately charged Mafnas with possession with intent to distribute approximately 46 grams of ice, which the policeman allegedly stole from the DPS.

The indictment also charged Mafnas and Patris with a count each of false statements and perjury for allegedly lying to the FBI and a federal jury in December 2003 that a then CNMI assistant attorney general, Dan Wolfe, authorized the destruction of the 46 grams of ice Mafnas took from the evidence room. Mafnas claimed to have burned the ice, while Patris claimed witnessing the burning of the evidence.