Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa K. Kim-Tenorio has denied the government\u2019s motion to vacate the preliminary hearing in a child abuse case in which a defendant was already released on bail.<\/p>\n
Preliminary hearing is like a mini-trial. Under such hearing, the prosecutor must show that enough evidence exists to charge a defendant. <\/p>\n
In an order issued Monday, Kim-Tenorio said as the conditions of defendant Theodore O. Pehnos Jr.\u2019s pretrial release is a substantial deprivation of his liberty, she finds that he is entitled to a preliminary examination under the NMI Rules of Criminal Procedure.<\/p>\n
Kim-Tenorio said under NMI Rules of Criminal Procedure, a defendant has a right to a preliminary examination unless he or she waives this right.<\/p>\n
In this case, the judge said, where Pehnos has not waived his right to a preliminary examination, the onus rests with the government to explicitly content why he should be deprived of this right.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimply stating that the conditions of defendant\u2019s pretrial release do not impose a substantial deprivation of liberty does not meet that burden,\u201d Kim-Tenorio pointed out.<\/p>\n
Last Dec. 4, police arrested Pehnos at his workplace for an alleged child abuse incident that took place on June 4, 2019 in Kagman. <\/p>\n
The Office of the Attorney General charged Pehnos with two counts of child abuse. On Dec. 12, he was released to a third-party custodian on an unsecured $5,000 appearance bond and subject to pretrial release conditions.<\/p>\n
The pretrial release conditions require Pehnos to return to court, obey all laws, keep appointments with his attorney, not apply for a passport, stay away from seaports and airports, and may not consume or possess alcoholic beverages. <\/p>\n
The court also ordered a home study, as well as home checks conducted by the Division of Youth Services, to ensure defendant\u2019s compliance.<\/p>\n
A preliminary hearing was then scheduled for Dec. 17, 2019.<\/p>\n
Assistant attorney general J. Robert Glass Jr., counsel for the government, moved to vacate preliminary hearing.<\/p>\n
The motion hearing was held last Dec. 17.<\/p>\n
Glass argued that Pehnos is not subject to a substantial deprivation of liberty as required to trigger the right to a preliminary hearing.<\/p>\n
In his opposition, Pehnos, through his counsel assistant public defender Karie Comstock, argued that he is subject to a substantial deprivation of his liberty as a direct result of the constraints placed on him by the conditions of his pretrial release.<\/p>\n
In her order issued Monday, Judge Kim-Tenorio disagreed with the government\u2019s argument that none of the conditions of defendant\u2019s pretrial release impose a substantial deprivation of liberty.<\/p>\n
Kim-Tenorio said while not all conditions of Pehnos\u2019 pretrial release individually contribute to the substantial deprivation of his liberty, when combined, most of the conditions in this case do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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