Tracy Matanane not once could look her old friend Nakita Aguon in the eye the entire afternoon she sat on the witness stand just feet away from Ms. Aguon at Aguon’s trial today. The two were among four female friends and occupants of a red Jeep that crashed into Jerry’s Kitchen at 1:30 a.m. on February 25, 2021, after they all left The Venue. The Venue is a night club in Hagatna.
Attorney General Leevin Camacho charged only Ms. Aguon with any crime committed that evening.
“I don’t remember,” was Ms. Matanane’s refrain for nearly every question asked of her regarding her recollection of that evening. She said she did not have a job, then backtracked under oath and said is an enlisted senior airman in the U.S. military since 2020. That detail was not recorded by reporting officer Chris Champion the morning of the crash.
“I don’t remember how we got there, but I remember I rode with Nakita,” she told prosecutor Grant Olan about the trip she made the evening of February 24, 2021 to their first destination – Applebees restaurant in Tamuning.
“Did anyone in your group drink alcoholic beverages that evening,” Mr. Olan asked Ms. Matanane. “I don’t remember,” she replied, “I just remember I was drinking.”
Ms. Matanane admitted Ms. Aguon was not drinking alcohol, at least at the restaurant that night. The admission is critical, because AG Camacho charged Ms. Aguon with misdemeanor driving under the influence. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 48 hours in prison, if she is convicted by the jury of six hearing the case at trial.
“What did you drink,” Mr. Olan asked Ms. Matanane about her alcohol consumption at Applebees. “Sangria,” she replied. “How much?”
“A pitcher,” she replied.
“By yourself?”
“Yes, sir,” she answered under oath.
Prosecutor Olan then produced a $94 receipt from The Venue, which indicated the purchase of six shots of Jameson whiskey along with a $40 tip.
“Did you drink all those shots,” Mr. Olan asked her. “No.”
“Do you remember who drank those shots with you?”
“No,” she told the jury.
Mr. Olan then produced a The Venue receipt stamped at 12:12 a.m. February 25, 2021, bearing Ms. Matanane’s signature, that indicates she purchased nine more shots of Jameson whiskey.
“Did you drink any of those shots,” he asked her. “Yes.”
“Did you drink those shots by yourself?”
“No.”
“Who else drank those shots with you?”
“I don’t remember,” she replied.
According to her testimony on the stand today, Ms. Matanane could not remember much of anything that night, except that Ms. Aguon was the driver of the Jeep.
According to a report by investigator, GPD officer Morgan Reyes – who testified right before Ms. Matanane – GPD officer Joneen Terlaje admitted to drinking that night as well, starting at Applebees. Ms. Terlaje was one of the occupants of the Jeep, when it destroyed Jerry’s Kitchen. She was off duty at the time. Kandit has previously reported her and her family’s alleged attempts to convince the public she was not involved in the crash. Ms. Terlaje has significant political ties.
According to Ms. Matanane’s testimony, the Jameson shots were brownish in color. According to Ms. Terlaje’s recollection of the evening at The Venue, Ms. Aguon was drinking a clear substance from a cup, and squirted the flavor enhancer MIO into her drink.
According to officer Reyes’s testimony, when she interviewed Ms. Terlaje mid-March 2021 about the crash, Terlaje asserted Nakita Aguon was the driver at the time of the crash. When asked who got out of the Jeep first after the crash, Ms. Terlaje began to answer, “I had to help Aguon out,” then stopped and backtracked her statement. Ms. Reyes noted in her report the discrepancy. “I remember Aguon getting out of the driver seat,” Ms. Terlaje then said of the sequence of events.
Later in the interview, Ms. Reyes asked Ms. Terlaje what she meant when she originally stated, “I had to help Aguon out.” Ms. Terlaje then said, “Sorry, I don’t remember saying that.”
Ms. Aguon, who has no political ties, is fighting the charge against her. Her defense maintains she was not the driver, when the crash happened. The lone eye witness to the crash – a G4S security guard assigned to the Camacho Center (the building where Jerry’s Kitchen is located) told secondary investigators that the responding police officers did not ask him any questions, and that he witnessed a muscular woman with tattoos getting out of the driver’s seat immediately after the crash.
Ms. Aguon does not have any visible tattoos.
Ms. Matanane told the jury today that the responding police officers did not ask her any questions either.
Mr. Lujan – Aguon’s lawyer – said this case is about police corruption and an obvious cover up.
