AGO: We are bound by plea agreement in Elyeisar case

Despite the Igitol family’s displeasure, the Attorney General’s Office is obligated to abide by the language in the plea agreement it entered with defendant Akilino P. Elyeisar, the AGO said yesterday.

Acting Attorney General Matthew T. Gregory and Chief Prosecutor Jeffery L. Warfield Sr. said the AGO’s Criminal Division entered into the agreement.

Elyeisar is charged with the death of his live-in partner, Vickyann M. Igitol, allegedly as a result of domestic violence.

Although the family of the victim has informed the AGO of their unhappiness with the agreement, Gregory and Warfield said the government is bound by its terms.

They said Elyeisar has signed the agreement and waived his right to a trial based on the terms of the agreement.

But Gregory and Warfield clarified that they were not part of the negotiation process or preparation of this case for trial.

“This fact makes it extremely difficult for either to second-guess the decisions of the prosecutors who had the most intimate knowledge of the case,” they said.

On Friday, Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja postponed again the change of plea hearing and set it for today at 9am.

The judge ordered the second continuation hearing following an oral request by the AGO.

Assistant public defender Douglas Hartig, counsel for Elyeisar, objected to the second postponement of the proceeding.

On Wednesday, former chief prosecutor Jeffrey Moots said the AGO is standing pat on its decision to enter into a plea agreement with Elyeisar.

Moots said that, if Naraja rejects the plea agreement, they would then reconsider their options. The chief prosecutor said they understand the disappointment of the family and relatives of the victim over the government’s decision in reaching the plea bargain.

“We just want to ensure there will be a conviction. That’s important,” he said.

The original change of plea hearing was scheduled last Jan. 24, but the family of the victim objected to the proposed jail term, which they considered “very unfair.”

The objection prompted Naraja to continue the change of plea hearing for last Friday.

Under the agreement, Elyeisar would plead guilty to aggravated assault and battery. The government would recommend a jail term of 22 months, with credit for the time the defendant has already spent in jail. Elyeisar has been in jail for about 20 months. After his release, the defendant would then be deported to Chuuk as part of the agreement.

Court records show that police responded to a residence in Kagman on May 13, 2004, based on a call of a neighbor who suspected a domestic violence incident.

But Vickyann Igitol told responding police she just fell from a stool while she was trying to reach something from the top of their cabinet.

A few days later, however, Vickyann Igitol reportedly confided to her father what really happened. The victim, whose body from the neck down had been paralyzed, died of complications a few weeks later.

Guam chief medical examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola concluded in his autopsy report that the victim’s death was a homicide and not due to an accident from a fall.