Whether or not trial will commence or evidence is brought forth before a grand jury in the Mark Torres Jr. case is up to Superior Court Judge Michael Bordallo who will be reviewing the case law to determine how the case will move forward.
Mark Torre Jr.’s lawyer, Atty. Jay Arriola, argued that his client has a statutory right to a grand jury indictment. When charged with a felony, he must be indicted by a grand jury in the case presented before the trial court and preliminary hearing needs to be held in which probable cause is determined
“If the court reviews the grand jury in this case, the grand jury was never given the law on negligent homicide charge nor were they given sufficient evidence to find probable cause to charge the defendant with the crime negligent homicide,” Arriola said.
Arriola also called to the attention of the court case law which requires the presiding judge to review the grand jury proceedings to determine whether without the suppressed evidence there remains sufficient evidence enough to charge Torre.
The government, however, continues to contend that because it is a lesser included charge, a grand jury indictment is not needed.
Judge Bordallo is reviewing the cases that were cited and will issue a written decision which he says will determine if it will go back before a grand jury or go on to trial.
A hearing will either be heard on Nov. 21 or Dec. 5, depending on how far along Bordallo is with his written decision.
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