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<\/p>\nThe motions hearing for the Shayne Blanco Villanueva case, originally to be held last Friday at the NMI Superior Court in Susupe with Presiding Judge Roberto Naraja did not take place, and instead the trial was moved to Dec 3, 2024.<\/p>\n
The prosecution team shared that Naraja did not hold the motions hearing and instead in an order issued on Friday, Nov. 1, moved the trial to Dec. 3, and ordered briefing on the issue of whether he has to recuse himself to be on Nov. 12, with the arguments on it this Nov. 18. The motions hearings are now on Dec. 2.<\/p>\n
The bench trial for Villanueva was originally set for this week before the rescheduling.<\/p>\n
The Commonwealth Superior Court is examining whether Judge Roberto C. Naraja should recuse himself from presiding over the case of Villanueva. The potential conflict centers on Naraja\u2019s familial connection to Rep. Ralph Naraja Yumul (Ind-Saipan), who has been called to testify in the matter. Villanueva\u2019s defense team contends that this relationship may compromise the fairness of the proceedings. Naraja is Yumul\u2019s uncle.<\/p>\n
The court order, issued on Nov. 1, 2024, by Naraja addresses three specific issues\u2014scheduling a hearing on Villanueva\u2019s motion for recusal, directing the defendant to submit a detailed memorandum supporting the recusal request, and requiring the Commonwealth\u2019s opposition to the motion. Naraja\u2019s order states that \u201cthe familial relationship between the undersigned judge and Yumul creates an appearance of, if not a conflict of interests, thereby questioning the court\u2019s impartiality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naraja has consistently argued that disqualification is unwarranted in this matter, emphasizing that Yumul\u2019s relationship is limited to the \u201cthird degree\u201d under civil law standards, which is outside the \u201csecond degree\u201d threshold that would necessitate automatic recusal under CNMI law. As he noted in the order, \u201cRepresentative Yumul\u2019s third-degree relationship to the judge does not mandate automatic recusal under 1 CMC \u00a7 3308(b)(5)(iv).\u201d Under CNMI\u2019s Code of Judicial Conduct, a judge is required to recuse if their \u201cimpartiality might reasonably be questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Villanueva\u2019s defense initially raised the issue of conflict of interest during the April 2, 2024, arraignment, and reiterated these concerns at the Oct. 22, 2024, pretrial conference. However, despite multiple opportunities, they had not formally submitted a motion for recusal. Naraja highlighted this, noting, \u201cDefendant again failed to follow through with the required formal motion\u2026to provide evidence of bias, or offer legal authority substantiating the necessity for recusal.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a procedural move to ensure impartiality, Naraja has decided to appoint another judge to preside over the upcoming hearing. The hearing date will be determined in open court, and the parties are expected to submit their respective arguments. According to Naraja, the defendant now has \u201cthe opportunity to present its concerns through a written motion supported by a memorandum of law,\u201d with the Commonwealth filing an opposition.<\/p>\n
Villanueva\u2019s legal team, through attorney Keith Chambers, will likely focus on whether Yumul\u2019s testimony, although procedural, could cast doubt on the court\u2019s neutrality. Naraja countered that Yumul\u2019s role in the case is \u201cpurely procedural,\u201d and that a reasonable person would not question the judge\u2019s impartiality based on these circumstances.<\/p>\n
Villanueva\u2019s case stems from his role in the Building Optimism, Opportunities, and Stability Program program, an initiative under scrutiny for alleged misuse of public funds.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Roberto Naraja<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The motions hearing for the Shayne Blanco Villanueva case, originally to be held last Friday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-425346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}