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05/28/2025 - Former CNMI Governor Ralph Torres was at the CNMI Supreme Court yesterday, where there were two oral arguments before the justices related to alleged conflicts of interest in prosecuting the ongoing case against Torres by the CNMI Attorney General’s Office.
According to the court, the first oral argument is about how “the trial court, while reconsidering a previous order, found that the entire AG’s Office had a conflict of interest with Torres and had failed to properly screen certain attorneys who had access to privileged information, violating their ethical duties.”
Robert Glass. Chief Solicitor for the CNMI, appeared for the government and Attorney Anthony Aguon represented Torres.
The second oral argument today is about how “the commonwealth appeals the trial court’s disqualification of Special Prosecutor James R. Kingman and the Office of the Attorney General from prosecuting former Governor Ralph DLG. Torres. The trial court, while reconsidering a previous order, found that the AG’s Office had a conflict of interest with Torres and had tainted Kingman by associating him with attorneys who had access to privileged information. The court surmised that this showed the Office was unable to maintain an ethical screen and no attorney associated with it could prosecute Torres.”
Assistant Attorney General James Kingman appeared for the government and Attorney Joaquin Torres represented Torres.
In a statement to MP after the oral arguments, Attorney Torres said, "The results of today’s hearing will determine what is the next step. We are grateful for the two justices who assisted in hearing the Appeal and Writ of Mandamus, and our Supreme Court for scheduling today’s hearing."
CNMI Justice John Manglona, Guam Justice Robert Torres, and Hawaii Justice Sabrina McKenna will decide on the cases.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Justice Manglona said that the case has been "lengthy" and he expects it not to stretch on for another year or two.
Story by Thomas Manglona II
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