First, a red Jeep occupied by four female friends plows into Jerry Kitchen in Tamuning on February 25, 2021.
Then, a Guam Police Department officer issues a citation for imprudent driving to the owner of the Jeep, Nakita Aguon.
Then, a staffer at the time for the late Sen. Jose Terlaje, Chris Carillo, tells Kandit that Mr. Terlaje’s granddaughter, GPD officer Joneen Terlaje, was not an occupant of the Jeep.
Then, the chief of police, Stephen Ignacio, says Ms. Terlaje indeed was involved.
Then, former Attorney General Leevin Camacho charges Nakita Aguon with drunk driving.
What has followed has been the longest, and likely most expensive drunk driving misdemeanor criminal trial in island history.
Some of that had to do with the pandemic. Some of the delay had to do with Judge Alberto Tolentino’s health. But much of the fuss has been about the circus of the evidence, and witness statements that all seem to contradict each other.
People of Guam vs. Nakita Aguon, commonly known as the Red Jeep trial, resumed in the Superior Court of Guam today after a months-long hiatus.
Before today, the six-person jury has heard and seen evidence and testimony that, in summary, says these:
- That the lone (uninvolved) eye witness gave police a description of the driver that matches one of the other female occupants, and not Nakita Aguon
- That Nakita Aguon was not drinking the night of the crash
- That Nakita Aguon was drinking the night of the crash
- That Nakita Aguon was the driver
- That police officers never administered a field sobriety test on Nakita Aguon, or any of the other three women
- That the reporting police officer said he didn’t smell alcohol on any of them
- That Nakita Aguon was never even interviewed the night the crash happened by the police officers
But the greatest incidence of testimony on the stand from witnesses has been the utterance of these four words: “I do not recall.”
In sum and substance, that testimony represented the vast majority of Joneen Terlaje’s responses to the prosecutor, Grant Olan, who put the police officer on the stand to testify against Nakita Aguon today.
Ms. Terlaje, like another of the Jeep’s occupants who has testified – Tracy Matanane – told the jury Ms. Aguon was the driver at the time of the crash.
But when asked whether Ms. Aguon was drinking, the police officer told the jury, “No,” explaining Ms. Aguon was on “a water-based diet.” The lone charge against Ms. Aguon is for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Mr. Olan then showed Ms. Terlaje video surveillance of The Venue – a nightclub in Hagatna – the night of the incident, which showed the occupants of the Jeep swigging shots of an undisclosed substance.
“You testified that Ms. Aguon was on a water-based diet?” Mr. Olan asked Ms. Terlaje. “Yes,” she replied.
“Did you see her drink anything else in that video we just watched?”
“Yes,” she replied.
The defense’s theory of the case is that Ms. Aguon had been set up to take the fall for the real driver, and that police corruption has been at play to protect several bad actors.
The case went to the Superior Court of Guam in November 2022, with the trial continuing through December, then stopping in the middle of prosecution due to a number of factors.
Prior to the pause in the trial, where Ms. Aguon is fighting the charge, evidence was presented in open court refuting the foundation of the charge: the lone eye witness to the crash – a G4S security guard named Ruthy Pachamwai – told both police and the prosecutor that the woman who got out of the driver’s seat after the Jeep reversed from the destroyed restaurant was muscular with tattoos.
Ms. Aguon does not have any visible tattoos.
In a court filing in March this year, defense attorneys for Ms. Aguon revealed another bombshell on the case: transcripts of the first police officer on the scene telling investigators everyone but Ms. Aguon appeared to be drunk.
According to the defense, GPD officer Chris Champion only interviewed Ms. Terlaje before instructing officer Eugenius Pewtress to write a citation to Ms. Aguon for imprudent driving. None of the reporting officers asked any of the women to submit to any field sobriety test, nor did any interview Ms. Aguon.
According to an interview by police investigators with Mr. Champion, it was Ms. Terlaje, Ms. Barcinas, and Ms. Matanane who “mentioned Defendant to be the driver of the vehicle.”
He told investigators “Terlaje appeared to be drunk and Ayesha Barcinas a little bit intoxicated; and Tracy Matanane appeared to be shaken up the most,” the court filing states.
“Champion’s observation of Defendant did not show signs of impairment,” the report states. There were “no indications of impairment with Officer Champion’s contact with Aguon. The others appeared to be intoxicated but not Defendant.”
