Saipan, CNMI – On October 11, 2024, the Supreme Court affirmed an order by the trial court dismissing the charges against Appellee Tim Onopey with prejudice. The Commonwealth charged Onopey with First Degree Sexual Assault, but later moved to dismiss the charge after the complaining witness changed her testimony. The prosecution asked the court to dismiss the case without prejudice, which would allow it to re-file charges against Onopey in the future. Onopey objected, asking the court to dismiss with prejudice, preventing the prosecution from re-filing the charges against him. The lower court sided with Onopey, dismissing the case with prejudice after finding the prosecution’s motion to dismiss was made in bad faith.
The Commonwealth appealed, arguing that all such dismissals must be without prejudice and that the prosecution may always re-file charges as long as the statute of limitations has not expired.
In its opinion, the Supreme Court found that the trial court was incorrect to find bad faith in holding that the prosecution’s motion to dismiss was made in bad faith, but affirmed the court’s order dismissing the case without the possibility to re-file charges. The Supreme Court found that the trial court has authority to manage the terms of dismissal, and that it was not an abuse of the court’s discretion to dismiss the case with prejudice, since the prosecution did not provide the court any reason to allow it time to continue its investigation or re-file charges against Onopey.
2024-PR-0017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 11, 2024
This press release has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the public. For further information, contact the Supreme Court at Supreme.Court@NMIJudiciary.gov.
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