DAVID Ayuyu Atalig, who has been accused of inappropriately touching a minor, is asking the Superior Court to provide him with a hearing aid device and a Chamorro interpreter so he can participate in the proceedings.
Atalig, 64, was charged with one count of sexual abuse of a minor in the third degree, and disturbing the peace.
Assistant Public Defender Molly Dennert, who represents the defendant, said her client is hard of hearing and is experiencing some degree of hearing loss. “Hearing loss constitutes a disability,” she added.
On June 23, 2023, she said Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja recommended that she call a local business on Saipan to obtain an assistive listening device.
She said the court date being moved up prevented her from contacting the local business.
“Even if counsel had contacted the suggested local business, the Public Defender’s Office does not have funding to obtain hearing assistive devices for its clients,” Dennert added.
She is also requesting the court for an order appointing an interpreter for her client so he can understand the court proceedings.
She said her client has limited understanding of English but speaks Chamorro.
Dennert cited the Superior Court’s Language Access Policy & Plan, which states, “Federal law prohibits national origin discrimination and requires federally assisted law enforcement entities, such as the Judiciary, to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to programs, services, and information to Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) individuals.”
According to the prosecution, Atalig, on or about Nov. 28, 2021, on Rota, “did unlawfully engage in sexual contact with a person who was 13, 14, or 15 years of age…in violation of 6 CMC § 1308(a) and made punishable by 6 CMC § 1308(b).”
Moreover, Atalig “did unlawfully and willfully commit an act which unreasonably annoyed or disturbed the peace of a minor child...causing the minor to feel scared and uncomfortable, in violation of 6 CMC § 3101(a), and made punishable by 6 CMC §§ 3101(b) and 4101(d).”
