Posted on: Tuesday, September 30, 2003

La'ie woman waives right to jury trial in fraud case

By B.J. Reyes
Associated Press

A La'ie woman being tried a second time in federal court on charges of running a fraudulent investment scheme waived her right to a jury trial yesterday.

Montez Salamasina Ottley, 59, was convicted last year of allegedly bilking more than $66 million from about 5,000 people in Hawai'i and American Samoa, but that conviction was overturned in June.

In February 2002, a federal jury found Ottley guilty of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges accusing her of orchestrating a "Cayman Island Investment Program." She was also convicted on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. She was sentenced to 26 years in prison and ordered to pay $66 million in restitution.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June ordered a new trial for Ottley, saying she should have been allowed to serve as her own attorney in her case.

In a contentious hearing yesterday before visiting U.S. District Judge Manuel Real, Ottley again argued that she should be freed because the appeals court overturned her previous conviction. Real noted that the appeals court also ordered a new trial.

Ottley defiantly and angrily accused Real of ignoring the 9th Circuit's decision, referring to court officials and prosecutors as "slimeballs" and all but daring Real to rule on the matter himself. "If you dare to go forward with this trial you will answer to God," she said. "You make (the decision) and you tell the 9th Circuit how you overturned their decision."

When asked repeatedly if it was her intention to waive her constitutional right to a jury trial, Ottley only became angered and repeated that she was not bound by the U.S. Constitution because, "I am (a) citizen of the Kingdom of God."

Ottley eventually signed an affidavit indicating that she wished to waive her right to a jury trial.