The verdict in the case involving a bus that hit the Two Lovers Point gate in March has both legal advisers involved seeing it as a victory.

Jesse Taitano Basaliso, the defendant in the case, was found guilty of misdemeanor counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, eluding a police officer and criminal mischief. The misdemeanor convictions were celebrated by the Attorney General’s Office in a press release following the Nov. 15 sentencing.

“Basaliso exemplifies what additional damage to our community occurs when criminals are not kept behind bars. The victim of the crime (Core Tech International Corp.) suffered extensive damage to the bus due to Basaliso’s criminal activity,” the OAG statement said. “Affirm a speedy trial and this AG and our jurors will accommodate. We the people of Guam are safer. This AG thanks the 12 jurors who quickly returned guilty verdicts today.”

The Guam Daily Post is affiliated with Core Tech.

Heading into the trial, Basaliso had five prior convictions related to both misdemeanor and felony assault and battery, according to his criminal record.

In the indictment against Basaliso, the first charge, referred to by the AG, relates to reports that witnesses saw “an unidentified man” later identified as Basaliso board the Core Tech bus and hit the Two Lovers Point main gate on March 13 .

For that charge, Basaliso faced second-degree felony theft of an automobile with a special warrant for committing a felony while on a felony warrant.

Basaliso was acquitted by a jury of that charge, leaving the misdemeanor charges to be weighed at sentencing.

“We are very, very pleased with the verdict. Going into the trial, he was facing up to, I believe, 37 years in prison if convicted. And so I thought from the beginning that the case was overcharged, and the attorney general spent a lot of resources bringing in this private attorney to act as a special prosecutor to take the case to trial. We’re just happy (and) very, very happy for Jesse and happy that the jury looked at the case the same way that we saw it, and the verdict was, in the end, it was the right verdict,” he said. Deputy Public Defender Brycen Breazeale. The Guam Daily Post on Sunday.

That special prosecutor was Curtis Van de Veld, who previously defended indigent clients.

While the AG praised Van de Veld for the victory, Breazeale does not believe it affected the outcome of the case.

“The attorney general took the position that they didn’t really want to negotiate a resolution in this case. They wanted him to plead guilty and agree to serve decades in prison, and that would not have been a fair outcome,” Breazeale said. .

He said the evidence that emerged during the trial did “exactly what I thought it would.”

“And we’re glad that obviously the jury agreed with our view of the case. But I don’t know why or what would have prevented the Attorney General from trying to resolve this case without having to go to trial. I don’t know exactly what their thoughts were on the trial, but all I know is that they didn’t think they had, apparently, any prosecutor who could competently prosecute the case, who is employed by the AG’s office. And so they brought in a private contract attorney to prosecute the case. And I don’t think ultimately that affected how the case went,” Breazeale added.

The theft charge was acquitted, which Breazeale said was a “huge win”.

“The felony charge that would have put him in prison for a minimum of 10 years, no exception. So that’s why it’s such a big win. It’s a huge win for Jesse. It’s a huge win for us because since he was acquitted of the felony charge, he now faces no mandatory jail time. The jury convicted him of three misdemeanor counts, which is our theory. I knew he absolutely committed the misdemeanors. I didn’t dispute that throughout the process,” Breazeale said.

The three felony convictions carry less jail time, Breazeale said, anywhere from “zero to one year.”

He intends to ask the court at the sentencing in February to release Basaliso.

But the AG’s office said it would seek the maximum sentence given Basaliso’s “extensive criminal record.”

“Obviously, the judge is in the best position to, you know, make that decision about what’s an appropriate sentence. So I’m not going to go into detail exactly what our argument would be at this point, but we think that he, based on his character and his chances of rehabilitation (and) the facts that have come out of the trial, we think he’s a good candidate to approach the minimum sentence,” Breazeale said.

OAG says their position on repeat offenders is firm.

“Catch, release and recidivism must lead to long prison terms to protect us all. We look forward to working with the new senators to better protect crime victims and other potential victims of criminals like Basaliso. This AG is in the process of crafting legislation to keep criminals in jail and make us safer at night. We continue to stay safe by winning jury trials one criminal at a time,” the OAG said.