Court denies Babauta request for new trial

The U.S. District Court denied yesterday the request of former Commonwealth Utilities Corp. laboratory manager Pedro Babauta for a new trial despite his claim that his constitutional right to a public trial was violated when the court’s security personnel barred Gov. Juan N. Babauta from entering the courtroom during the jury selection process.

The defendant is the governor’s first cousin and the husband of incumbent CUC executive director Lorraine Babauta.

On June 15, a federal jury convicted the former CUC laboratory manager on two counts of false documents charges and acquitted the defendant on two other counts. The court had declared a mistrial on the charge of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with the jury unable to reach a verdict on that count.

Federal prosecutors accused the defendant of concealing the true microbiological content of the utility firm’s drinking water supply on certain occasions.

In support of the defendant’s request for a new trial, he submitted to court an affidavit wherein the governor alleged that he and a companion went to court to attend the jury selection, but was told by a court security that the proceeding was closed to the public. The governor and his companion then left the federal court building.

Court records show that the defendant’s attorney, G. Anthony Long, had asked for a new trial for his client, saying that the accused’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was violated.

Chief Judge Alex R. Munson denied the request, noting that it knew about the barring of the governor after the security personnel inadvertently thought that the jury selection process was closed to the public.

“The court finds that the barring of Gov. Babauta does not arise to a violation of defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial. Although the governor could not watch the jury selection, members of the public and the defendant’s family were still present,” the judge stated in an order yesterday.

The judge also rejected the defendant’s argument that the court had improperly instructed the jury in connection with one of the false documents charges. He also junked the defendant’s request for judgment of acquittal on that count.

Long asserted that the charge accused defendant Babauta of making a false statement to the Division of Environmental Quality, the EPA’s local arm, on March 6, 2003, in connection with water sampling test results. He contended that the basis of the charge was not false reporting but concealment. The report contained results of the Feb. 28, 2003 tests but omitted the results of the Feb. 27, 2003 tests.

Munson said there was sufficient evidence not only of the concealment but also of the false statement. He said the defendant should have reported the Feb. 28, 2003 results to the DEQ as repeat test results, not original test results.

“From the evidence, a jury could have concluded that defendant’s statement was false because it did not accurately reflect what should have been reported,” Munson said.