In a 10-page decision by Superior Court Judge Michael Bordallo, he explained why he decided to deny a motion to dismiss the indictment against Mark Torre Jr., the man accused in the shooting death of fellow police officer Elbert Piolo.
The motion for a dismissal addressed two issues. First, whether the grand jury’s 2015 initial finding of probable cause is invalid because the grand jury was presented with incriminating statements made by Torre, which have since been suppressed by the Supreme Court on 5th amendment grounds.
Secondly, there was the issue of whether the government failed to present exculpatory evidence to the grand jury related to the negligent homicide charge.
Judge Bordallo, in his analysis, determined based on a Supreme Court ruling that finding probable cause is valid despite the evidence being obtained in violation of the 5th amendment.
He further stated that while suppression of such evidence can constitute grounds for dismissal, it is only in cases where the suppressed evidence was the sole basis for finding probable cause which Judge Bordallo says is not the case here.
“Torre seems to ignore the numerous pieces of evidence presented to the grand jury which could independently justify a finding of probable cause,” the judge stated.
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