After a year of judges' recusals, Apuron libel suit is up for a hearing

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
August 8, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/08/08/after-year-judges-recusals-apuron-libel-suit-up-hearing/507458001/

Archbishop Anthony Apuron

A $2 million libel and slander lawsuit against suspended Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron and the Archdiocese of Agana, which was filed more than a year ago, is scheduled to have its first status hearing this week.

Until now, most of the activity in the case has involved judges recusing themselves from hearing it.

Judge Michael J. Bordallo, now assigned to the case, is scheduled to hold a status conference at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The libel and slander lawsuit was filed by former altar boys Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton and Roland Sondia along with Doris Concepcion, mother of deceased former altar boy Joseph Quinata, after Apuron accused them of lying about him.

The four plaintiffs, who accused Apuron of sexually abusing or raping altar boys in Agat in the 1970s, sued Apuron and the archdiocese for calling them liars and for accusing them of “instilling hatred, ignorance and violence in the people.”

Several months after the libel suit was filed, Guam lawmakers retroactively lifted the statute of limitations on child sex abuse lawsuits, allowing Apuron's accusers and dozens of others to sue the church, the Boy Scouts of America, and those they said abused them.

Based on local court documents, at least six local court judges filed disqualification memos or forms between September 2016 and January 2017 in connection with the libel case.

They cited potential impartiality or conflict of interest because of their relationships with the parties involved in the case, including ties to Apuron, the former altar boys who accused Apuron of sexual abuse, or the Catholic church as a whole.

Bordallo, the first to file a disqualification form on Sept. 15, 2016, said Concerned Catholics of Guam president David J. Sablan is the father-in-law of his current chamber clerk, Cynthia C. Sablan.

He said he will continue to sit on the case if all parties file written agreements, waiving their disqualification.

On March 2, 2017 the libel suit was again assigned to Bordallo, court documents state, and he has since been reviewing all the documents filed on the case.