Man Released from Confinement Without Posting Bail

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A Territorial Correctional Facility police officer, an immigration officer, and an assistant attorney general were sworn in before the court this morning as they each explained to District Court Judge Fiti Sunia how Luaufui aka Fui Fa’aletonu was released from police custody even though he did not post bail.

And the defendant is now reported to have left the territory.

The judge, a former attorney general, said after questioning the officials that this has never happened before and the court is quite concerned.

The TCF guard informed the court a female police officer on duty that day released Fa’aletonu after being served with an immigration release form.

For his part the immigration officer explained that they were approached by the sponsor, Fa’atupu Utu who informed them that they no longer want to sponsor the defendant.

Counsels from the Attorney General’s Office apologized and admitted that they made a mistake and it was an error on their part.

In response to questions from Judge Sunia, Assistant Attorney General Gerard Murphy answered that he knew Fa’atonu was at the TCF but did not know why. He did not bother to call the court to find out.

Murphy and another attorney from the AG’s office were counseled by Judge Sunia about their critical role to protect not only their integrity but that of the Immigration Office and the Department of Public Safety who will respond to any orders that bear signatures.

The judges also advised the immigration agent and the police officer to pay attention to detail and to work with the court if there’s any problem they’re unsure of.

Assistant Attorney General Murphy told the court that a warrant has been issued to bring back the defendant who has left American Samoa already.

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