District Court Judge Fiti Sunia has been appointed the new associate justice of the High Court of American Samoa.
His appointment is by the Secretary of the Interior and he fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Justice Lyle Richmond.
Assistant Secretary of the Interior Doug Domenech is reported to have informed Governor Lolo Moliga, Chief Justice Michael Kruse and Congresswoman Aumua Amata about Sunia’s appointment early this morning. This was after Sunia was notified.
Sunia was confirmed in January of 2016 as District Court Judge.
He is a former Attorney General of American Samoa.
He earned his Juris Doctorate at Howard University School of Law in Washington, DC and is admitted to the Pennsylvania, District of Columbia and the American Samoa Bar associations.
He practiced law in Washington, DC for a number of years before returning to American Samoa in 1997 and joined the Attorney General’s Office.
After five years he became Attorney General.
Sunia, who carries the Muagututia title, left the attorney general’s office in 2005 to open a private law office.
When Governor Lolo nominated Sunia for District Court Judge he said that Chief Justice Kruse speaks very highly of Judge Sunia’s learning, character and temperament for the role of judge, noting that he will continue to be an asset to the bench.
For the past few years, Elvis Patea has been Acting Associate Justice of the High Court.
