Attorney Randall Albright is among other lawyers recently brought on as a prosecutor with the Guam Attorney General's office. 

Albright commented on our island, “The water’s a little warmer. It has a lot of nice beaches and clear water. People are very nice, very welcoming and that makes me feel at home.” 

AG Moylan said, “He has the experience as a prosecutor to protect our community which is the mandate, the reason I’m here as the Attorney General. I have complete confidence in him.”

But the local legal community is questioning the hiring.

The concern made its way to KUAM, highlighting a report published in Hawaii a year ago.

It states Albright was separated from his job as deputy prosecutor in Hawaii county. 

The report also stated Albright has had disputes with neighbors that have resulted in police responses and restraining orders, adding in 2021, he allegedly threatened a neighbor’s teenage son with a firearm if he didn’t stop riding his dirt bike in front of his home. 

Albright said, “Well, when you have prosecuted cases for over a decade, you’re going to create some animosity in the community, part of that is when you see a crime, you report it and that’s what happened to me on my own street…That particular case was dismissed, there was resolution with the neighbor, who was a previous defendant and there was no substance to the allegations and the actual case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it had no merit.” 

Another questionable hire shared with KUAM is for attorney Steven J. Coaty. 

In 2010, Coaty was publicly censured by the Rhode Island Supreme Court for committing a host of ethical violations including exhibiting a disturbing pattern of neglecting matters involving clients. 

“First of all, let’s talk about what an ethical violation is. This is not a crime. When you’re talking about ethical violations, and yes, Mr. Coaty was vetted by myself, he made it very clear he was an elected official I understand, at the time. There was a question whether or not his client was receiving the amount of attention that they wanted. It was adjudicated without taking his license away,” said Moylan.

AG Moylan has since hired 19 attorneys to fill the prosecution division with more to come. 

With the concerns lingering over his hiring decision, Moylan added, “I think it’s some famous attorney has stated you don’t go far in your legal career without having dings on you. You’re in an aggressive, fight position when you’re an attorney. You’re there to promote the interest of your client as all of these attorneys have in front of you are experienced attorneys. These are not young attorneys straight out of law school.”