By Bryan Manabat
Saipan-- Sen. Celina Babauta frowned on the CNMI Superior Court's recent ruling disqualifying the entire Office of the Attorney General including special prosecutor James Robert Kingman from prosecuting former governor Ralph DLG Torres, who was charged with contempt, and misconduct in public office relating to first-class travel.
The decision was issued by Judge Pro Tem Arthur Barcinas.
"Judge Barcina's decision to disqualify the Attorney General's Office from prosecuting former governor Ralph Torres and to infringe upon the independent authority of our attorney general to hire a special prosecutor is not only misguided but also undermines the very principles of justice and accountability," Babauta said.
"As a pro tempore judge domiciled in Guam, Judge Barcinas has concocted an unworkable rule for our CNMI that our AG’s dual duties as prosecutor and advisor to the executive branch are inherently in conflict," Babauta said.
"Yet Guam’s own Supreme Court has just held the opposite in a dispute between their governor and AG. Barcinas has not only overstepped his bounds but also compromised the integrity of our judicial process. The Office of the Attorney general should not be told to stand down and let the current governor prosecute the former governor. Judge Barcinas’ ruling is ridiculous," she added.
Barcinas pointed out that Attorney General Edward Manibusan "having advised the [former] governor on the subpoena and then abandoning said representation in expectation of the commonwealth’s prosecution against the [former] governor, effectively ‘switched sides.’"
"Not only was his disqualification imputed to the entire OAG, but because he had changed the representation of his client in anticipation of the pending client, no amount of screening would be sufficient to allow any member of the OAG to participate in the ensuing matter," the judge said.
Barcinas also disqualified the OAG from prosecuting other charges related to the contempt case.
As to the disqualification of Kingman as special prosecutor, Barcinas said, “It cannot be disputed that the special prosecutor has been exposed to the knowledge and conflict of interest attributable to AG Manibusan.”
“Under the same reasoning regarding the OAG’s screen for conflict of interest, the Court again finds that AAG Kingman is disqualified from this matter. The terms of his contract indicate that he had discussed the case with AG Manibusan and expressed his expectations that he would report to and take orders from AG Manibusan, which at the very least gives the appearance of imputed conflict,” Barcinas said.
“The issue is only further complicated by his appointment as managing prosecutor of the OAG’s newly created White Collar Crimes Task Force, a position in which he must also report to AG Manibusan,” the judge added.
The judge pointed out that because the entire OAG is disqualified, any special prosecutor hired by someone within that office would be tainted by association.
Although the court has the authority to do so, Barcinas declined to appoint a special prosecutor because of his concerns regarding the appearance of any potential influence on the prosecutorial process and the fact that there are alternative means for the executive branch to pursue this prosecution of its own volition.
In a statement, Kingman described the ruling as "unattached from law, facts and reason.”
“It is, however, unsurprising and inevitable,” he added. “Since I arrived and the new judge pro tem was appointed at the trial level to a case he was already hearing as a justice pro tem on the appellate level, it was clear that the normal operations of judicial conduct would not apply here.”
In December 2021, the Democrat-Independent-led House committee on judiciary and governmental operations found Torres, then governor and a Republican, in contempt of a legislative subpoena for refusing to appear before the panel, which was investigating his public expenditures.
On April 8, 2022, the prosecution charged the former governor with 12 counts of misconduct in public office and one count of theft relating to the issuance of airline tickets for business class, first class, or other premium class travel for himself and/or Diann T. Torres, his wife.
The OAG also alleged one count of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a legislative subpoena.
Torres denied the charges.
House Floor leader Edwin Propst, former representative Tina Sablan and Babauta, all Democrats, lambasted and criticized Barcinas' decision.
The three were the House members who voted to impeach Torres over two years ago.
According to Propst, the decision was a travesty of justice.
"Several of my colleagues and I have been discussing the need for a legislative inquiry into possible judicial misconduct in the CNMI, especially in the judiciary’s handling of critical public corruption cases. In my view, Judge Barcinas’ latest decision reinforces that need. I will be taking up this discussion again with my colleagues,” he added.
Speaking as a private citizen, Sablan said, "the ruling is not only misguided but also undermines the very principles of justice and accountability.”
“Judge Barcinas' latest decision in the Torres case is a serious miscarriage of justice that erodes public trust in the CNMI judicial system,” she added.
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