12 Sep 2012

Former CNMI AG declared a fugitive by Superior Court

7:19 am on 12 September 2012

The Superior Court in the Northern Marianas has declared former attorney general Edward Buckingham a fugitive from justice.

In his order, associate Judge David Wiseman says Mr Buckingham's argument that his absence is not willful, and that he has also not attempted to conceal his whereabouts, does not shed his fugitive status.

He denied without prejudice Mr Buckingham's motion to quash the 50,000 US dollar bench warrant issued when he failed to attend a hearing on the 6th of August.

Judge Wiseman says not only did Mr Buckingham learn of the pending charges while still in the CNMI, he also surrounded himself with police officers on his way to, and through, the International Airport on Saipan in an apparent attempt to avoid service of penal summons.

The penal summons served Mr Buckingham were related to the seven criminal misdemeanor charges filed against him by the Office of the Public Auditor.