OAG moves to junk Torres’ petition vs DOF

The Office of the Attorney General has filed a motion to dismiss former governor Ralph DLG Torres’ suit against the Department of Finance and the OAG over the validity of special prosecutor James Kingman’s contract.

OAG Chief Solicitor Robert Glass Jr. has filed a motion to dismiss Torres’ petition for judicial review, arguing that a dismissal of the petition is warranted because Torres is in error on all points.

“He has improperly brought the OAG into the suit, he has failed to exhaust administrative remedies, the issue is not ripe for judicial determination, and he lacks standing as he has not been aggrieved by the contract,” Glass said.

Torres filed the petition for judicial review of Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita’s decision declining to rule or address the merits of Torres’ request that Kingman’s contract with the OAG be declared invalid.

According to the OAG motion, though, one of Torres’ errors that warrant dismissal was naming it a party in his petition.

“Torres’ petition should be dismissed because petitioner makes no claims the OAG did anything in violation of the regulations and requests no relief from the OAG. Petitioner’s action is for judicial review of the agency action of the secretary of Finance, yet it names the OAG as one of the parties. Petitioner alleges no facts constituting action on behalf of the OAG in his petition. The only allegations as to the OAG are that the OAG hired a special prosecutor pursuant to a sole-source contract to prosecute Mr. Torres in his pending criminal case,” Glass said.

Another error, Glass said, is that Torres and his defense team did not exhaust all available administrative remedies.

“Parties are required to exhaust administrative remedies prior to seeking court intervention. As no bad faith or fraud has been committed by the contract awardee, and as the attorney general has certified that the contract is in the best interest of the Commonwealth to attain a special prosecutor with expertise in handling white-collar and public corruption prosecutions, there is still left an administrative procedure of ratification of the contract. Because there is still an administrative procedure left, this court lacks jurisdiction. It must therefore dismiss the petition,” Glass stated.

He also argues that the matter itself is not ready for judicial review as the secretary of Finance has yet to issue its final decision.

“The agency has yet to render its last word on the matter. The contract is currently awaiting to see if the SOF will ratify the contract. The SOF’s decision is material in this matter because ratification would validate the contract, and thus any claims of deficiencies would be moot. As this decision has a direct impact on the petition and as the decision has not been rendered, the petition is not ripe for judicial review,” he said.

Lastly, Glass argues that Torres lacks standing to challenge Kingman’s contract.

“Because the AG is empowered by the Constitution to prosecute and appoint special prosecutors, petitioner lacks standing as he has suffered no legal harm and is not aggrieved in being prosecuted by the special prosecutor. The special prosecutor was duly appointed by the attorney general and has authority to practice in the Commonwealth courts pursuant to his pro hac vice admission,” Glass said.

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.