The Supreme Court of Guam has sided with Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and has dismissed the attorney general's appeal of a temporary restraining order, or TRO, against him and his office, finding that the order is not an immediately reviewable preliminary injunction.
The ten-day TRO bars the Office of the Attorney General from performing on a contract with Tropical Palm Hotel, the facility contracted to house people under The Dignity Project. Superior Court of Guam Judge John Terlaje issued the order on April 28.
Moylan appealed to the Guam Supreme Court shortly after the order was issued. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero moved to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the order was not an appealable injunction.
"To determine whether an order is a preliminary injunction or a TRO, courts look to two primary factors: (1) that 'the court's basis for issuing the order (is) strongly challenged,' ... and (2) that it has or will remain in effect longer than allowed by the applicable rules of civil procedure," the Guam Supreme Court stated in its order granting the governor's motion to dismiss the AG's appeal.
To determine whether a TRO is strongly challenged, courts look to whether the adverse party received notice of the TRO and whether parties had the opportunity to make oral and written arguments, according to the Guam Supreme Court.
"The Superior Court's April 28 order is a TRO, not a preliminary injunction," the high court added.
In this case, a TRO hearing lasted only one hour and had occurred less than 48 hours after the governor filed suit against the AG and OAG, with Moylan having been given less than a day to file an opposition.
"Likewise, the duration of the TRO is fixed. Guam Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b) provides that a TRO 'shall expire by its terms within such time after entry, not to exceed 10 days.' ... The Superior Court scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for May 8, 2025. Without clear language specifying otherwise, TROs expire within the period set by the rules of civil procedure," the Guam Supreme Court stated.
The court also denied the AG's motion for an expedited briefing and argument schedule as moot.
With the high court having decided the AG's appeal, the governor and AG are set to appear before Terlaje again on Thursday for the hearing on whether a preliminary injunction should be issued on the hotel contract.
Moylan said the OAG intends to go back to the Guam Supreme Court if a preliminary injunction is issued.
"Our response to this governor is, we will play the ball," Moylan stated on the matter.
"The governor's lawsuit is consistent with her administration's inability to fix Guam's worsening problems in health care and education and refusal to work with the AG's office prosecutors in stopping the flow of (methamphetamine) through our port authority, which is the main source of drugs destroying our families and community. Stopping (the Dignity Project) for vanity and hubris does nothing to help our community, both the homeless and those who are negatively affected by their plight," Moylan added.
The AG also stated that he had no intention of stopping his initiatives, referring to litigation against the governor or her administration.
"We have maintained our positions on health care with litigating to fix our current hospital for medical help to our people here and now, to education with having prosecuted those responsible for not inspecting our schools for years causing their dilapidated conditions and poor schooling, to public safety working closely with officers to separate and imprison those criminals who would hurt us," Moylan said.
"This AG has no intention of stopping. Either cooperate or we will continue to do what I was hired to do, litigate on behalf of our client in the courts to achieve justice and improve our quality of life," the AG added.
The governor, however, alleges that the attorney general violated law with the hotel contract for the Dignity Project, which is an OAG initiative to provide evening homelessness assistance to those with opioid addiction and others in crisis.
Those alleged violations include not following sole source procurement requirements and failing to send the contract to the governor her for signature. The AG contends that his office complied with the sole source procurement statute and that the governor's signature wasn't needed.
The governor sued the AG and OAG on April 25 to stop what her office called an illegal expenditure of public funds.
When asked for comment on the AG's statements regarding the Guam Supreme Court dismissal, Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the governor's communications director, said they do not comment on ongoing litigation.
The Guam Supreme Court dismissal also comes after some recent losses for the AG.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of the United States denied the AG's certiorari petition over last year's Guam Supreme Court ruling regarding his duties, which includes the finding that, under extraordinary circumstances, the governor may appoint a special assistant attorney general.
This was on top of last week's dismissal of the AG's appeal at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals related to his efforts to lift the injunction on Guam's old abortion ban.
The governor chided Moylan over these losses, stating that "he is ... very good at wasting our precious taxpayer dollars on expensive lawyers, dead-end lawsuits and political games"
The Office of the Governor stated that the AG's latest certiorari petition and a prior petition over the abortion ban issue involved the conservative law firm Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, adding that his contract with the firm is valued at over $1 million.
But Moylan said the figure is "nowhere close" to $1 million.
"This reflects the governor's blind rage and retaliation for acts my general crimes (attorneys), government corruption and civil prosecutors and attorneys have undertaken since I took office over two years ago to protect us in health care, education and public safety," the AG stated.