‘Miura entitled to bail in the CNMI, California’

Lawyers for Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura argue that he should be temporarily released because a defendant in a murder case is entitled to bail in the CNMI and California.

Attorney Bruce Berline, one of Miura’s lawyers, argued that contrary to the prosecution’s assertion in Wednesday’s hearing, a person charged with murder and even murder in the first degree is entitled to a bail hearing in the CNMI and may be released on bail.

In Miura’s motion for bail filed in the Superior Court on Friday, Berline cited that the Commonwealth Code states that “a person arrested for murder in the first degree may be released on bail by any judge; provided, that the district attorney is given reasonable opportunity to be heard before any application for bail is granted.”

The lawyer said the California Constitution mandates the release on bail under sufficient sureties except for “capital crimes when the facts are evident or the presumption is great.”

“Accordingly, even though there exists a complaint charging Miura with murder, he is entitled to a bail hearing and bail if the government cannot meet the exacting constitutional criteria,” Berline said.

He said Miura’s detention without bail deprives the defendant of his personal liberty without due process of law—a violation of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Citing previous court rulings, Berline said Miura’s constitutional right to be free from unreasonable governmental restraint may, under these circumstances, “be overcome only if the government can prove at a bail hearing that Miura is a flight risk or a danger to the community and then only if no set of conditions can be formulated to reasonably assure his appearance or the safety of the community.”

Berline stressed that their client is not a flight risk.

He said California’s weak position in the double jeopardy issue provides Miura with a very strong incentive to see this case through to completion.

In addition, Berline said, a surrender of Miura’s passport would ensure his continued presence on Saipan.

“In these post 9/11 times, it is extremely difficult if not impossible for a person with Mr. Miura’s notoriety to leave Saipan, unnoticed, without a valid passport,” he said.

Berline described as unrealistic the prosecution argument that the surrender of a passport would not prevent Miura form absconding in a boat.

Berline cited Miura age and lack of knowledge of local waters.

The CNMI government, he said, cannot show that Miura poses a danger to the community.

“Mr. Miura is over 60 years old. Mr. Miura has committed no crimes on Saipan or in the CNMI,” the lawyer said.

Berline added that notions of fundamental fairness and equity dictate that Miura should be released pending the resolution of the California proceedings and or the CNMI extradition matter.

Last Wednesday, Superior Court Associate Judge Ramona V. Manglona allowed Miura’s lawyers to file a motion to allow him to post bail.

Manglona gave Miura’s counsel until Friday, May 30, to file the motion for bail modification and directed the Attorney General’s Office to file its opposition to the motion by June 4.

The judge set the hearing for bail modification on June 6 at 2pm.

Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Warfield Sr. maintained that Miura is a flight risk.

“He is wanted for murder in California. That’s a crime that carries a punishment of life imprisonment or death,” Warfield argued.

On the bail eligibility in California, Warfield said that’s absolutely untrue and a misstatement of law.

Miura was arrested by Saipan authorities at the Saipan International Airport on Feb. 22 in connection with the murder of his wife, Kazumi Miura, in L.A. in 1981.

Miura had already been convicted in Japan in 1994 of the crime. The verdict, however, was overturned by Japan’s high court 10 years ago.