Rector's lawyer breaks the silence

by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Senator Matt Rector's attorney, Robert Kutz, broke the senator's silence during an afternoon press conference and contends no judge will hold his client in contempt of court for failing to appear before the Guam Election Commission.  While his client (who is paying Attorney Kutz a single dollar for his legal work) wasn't present, Kutz defended rector claiming there are many on the island who are attempting to "railroad" the lawmaker for a burglary conviction which he contends would be considered criminal trespass on Guam.

"There's no intent.  There's no moral turpitude.  There's been nineteen and doing dumb stuff, yeah," Kutz said.  "Neither of us (me or Rector) actually know what he actually pled guilty to; whether it was some kind of burglary under California law or whether it was something considerably less like criminal trespass.  There are no documents in existence."

He continued, "He answered it [GEC affidavit] perfectly honestly.  He had no duty to disclose anything that's in a sealed record or expunged, that's what the statute says and that's what he did." 

Regarding KUAM's report, Kutz stated, "Your TV station broke this story - where did you all get the information from?  That's a real good question."

Kutz has asked the Ethics Committee to subpoena witnesses - namely Monte Mesa, Eloy Hara, KUAM and Mindy Aguon - about the sources of information used for our story and complaints the others filed with the committee.  The attorney adds his client has no copies of any court documents, and records were either sealed, kept from the public, or simply don't exist and he believes the committee should issue subpoenas to see if those individuals have any of these documents that he contends don't exist.

As for a finding that his client is violating the ethics code by leasing Guam Federation of Teachers office space for his senatorial office, Kutz doesn't understand how it would be considered a violation since the lease was signed off on in January of last year by Speaker Judi Won Pat, Senator Rory Respicio, and the Guam Legislature's legal counsel.