Whitewash: HGEA Members at State Hospital Get No Punishment for Saito Escape
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Liar Kaneshiro Can Talk About Federal Investigation If He Wants To
CB: …When Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro issued a statement saying his office wouldn’t respond to a news report that he’s the target of a federal grand jury investigation, he did not merely decline to comment.
Honolulu’s top criminal lawyer took it a step further and cited rules governing federal grand jury proceedings, implying that the rules prohibited Kaneshiro from commenting.
But the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which Kaneshiro cited, contain no such prohibition, three experts in criminal procedure said….
“Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure mandate that grand jury proceedings are secret,” read the document. “It is a violation of law for an attorney of the government, a grand juror, or others to disclose information about grand jury investigations.”
The statement added, “We do not comment on investigations any grand jury may or may not be conducting.”
In fact, there’s no rule that would prevent any target or witness from commenting, said Virginia Hench, a retired professor of criminal law at the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law….
Kevin Cole, a professor of criminal law at the University of San Diego School of Law, said the rule doesn’t prevent Kaneshiro from talking about the grand jury proceeding if Kaneshiro is a target of the investigation.
“It sounds as if he’s misinterpreting the rule, unless he’s investigating himself, which would violate other rules,” Cole said….
Jim Felman, a Florida attorney who is a co-author of a two-volume treatise on grand jury law, agreed the rules do not prevent Kaneshiro from discussing the grand jury proceeding.
“He is not required to say what happened in the grand jury, but he is certainly free to do so if he would like to,” Felman said….
read … Kaneshiro Can Talk About Federal Investigation If He Wants To
Honolulu Police Corruption Probe Now Includes Katherine Kealoha’s Brother
CB: …A federal grand jury continues to expand its investigation, now delving into prescription pain medications that were seized during a 2015 drug raid….
The federal investigation into police and prosecutorial corruption in Honolulu has turned toward the Big Island and Katherine Kealoha’s younger brother, Rudolph Puana, an anesthesiologist who used to be part-owner of a pain clinic there.
Special prosecutor Michael Wheat and his team of investigators issued a grand jury subpoena to Puana’s ex-wife Lynn in early September requesting records from the clinic, which she used to co-own with her ex-husband….
A close friend of Puana, Chris McKinney, has also been called to testify before the federal grand jury. McKinney is a local writer, who co-authored a biography of Puana that was published in 2014 called “The Red-Headed Hawaiian.”…
HPD documents obtained by Civil Beat through a public records request show that federal investigators have keyed in on an August 2015 drug raid and the prescription painkillers seized during the bust.
Those narcotics — 116 skin patches of fentanyl — were recovered during the arrest of Tiffany Masunaga and Alan Ahn, who at the time was an HPD sergeant assigned to the department’s traffic division.
Officers involved in the raid also seized cocaine, marijuana, hydrocodone and alprazolam, which is commonly referred to under its trade name of Xanax.
According to HPD reports, federal investigators issued a confidential subpoena to the department around October 2017 that requested photographs of the fentanyl patches….
The Masunaga case has taken on a more significant role in the DOJ investigation.
Her attorney, William Harrison, has said his client’s life is in danger because she has information that might help federal investigators.
But the Honolulu prosecutors have effectively prevented her from talking by convincing her to become an informant for them, a relationship they tried to keep secret by sealing public court records….
Masunaga and Ahn have also been called to appear before Kaneshiro’s grand jury, proceedings that are now subject to DOJ scrutiny….
read … Honolulu Police Corruption Probe Now Includes Katherine Kealoha’s Brother
10 years later, board still trying to fix ethics code
WHT: The county Board of Ethics is trying to add teeth to what has historically been a paper tiger, more than a decade after the County Council gave it authority to fine public officials who violate the ethics code.
A January 2008 ordinance sponsored by former Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong and signed by Mayor Harry Kim gave the board authority to fine top public officials, including the mayor, council members and department heads and deputies, up to $1,000 per violation for ethics breaches.
The Board of Ethics, however, hasn’t updated its rules and procedures to reflect the fines, so they haven’t gone into effect….
The board has been working on rules reforms, but (obstructionist) members worried at a meeting Wednesday the county needs changes to either the county code or the charter to accomplish its goal….
Board members voted unanimously to seek an opinion from the county Corporation Counsel on whether there is authority for the County Council to clarify the code without a charter amendment. In order to cover all its bases, the board also unanimously passed a motion to submit a proposed amendment to the county Charter Commission for the 2020 ballot….
read … 10 years later, board still trying to fix ethics code
Hawaii’s Chief Information Officer Is Stepping Down
CB: …This comes as Nacapuy was to be given a job review by the Information Technology Steering Committee, an 11-member committee tasked with assisting the state CIO in implementing tech projects.
Last year, the committee gave him an overall grade of B-minus.
He’s credited for several major tech projects in the state. One of them, the Hawaii Department Dashboard, was awarded the first Chaucer Digital innovation Award earlier this year….
GT: Hawaii CIO Todd Nacapuy to Leave for the Private Sector
SA: On Nacapuy’s watch, ETS upgraded the state’s 50-year-old payroll system, founded the Hawaii Annual Code Challenge hackathon and implemented the Paper Reduction Pilot Program, eSign Initiative, and Hawaii Department Dashboard.
read … Hawaii’s Chief Information Officer Is Stepping Down
Kauai Criminal Indicted for Sex Assault While on Work Release
SA: A 33-year-old Kauai man with a long history of criminal convictions was indicted today for a sexual assault he allegedly committed while on work furlough.
The incident, classified as first-degree sexual assault, allegedly occurred in August.
Stephen Kaliko Makanani was convicted in November 2017 for unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle. The state had sought a 20-year sentence because Makanani had just finished a five-year sentence for unrelated offenses. He served less than a year before being placed on work furlough.
Makanani has previous convictions for burglary, illegal possession of drug paraphernalia, theft of credit card, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and unauthorized possession of confidential personal information….
read … Kauai man indicted for sexual assault while on work furlough
Punatic Activist Fails to Complete Community Service, Going to Jail
HTH: … A Kalapana woman is headed to jail for failing to complete court-ordered community service stemming from a 2017 case of vandalism atop Maunakea.
Hope Louise Cermelj, who identified herself in court as Alohalani Hope Dietz Cermelj, was ordered to turn herself into Hawaii Community Correctional Center at 10 a.m. today to begin serving two days for not completing 100 community service hours as ordered for her role in desecrating with spray-paint the mountain held sacred by many….
Cermelj, who ran unsuccessfully for the state House District 4 seat in 2012, was charged with criminal property damage after the graffiti was discovered in late April 2017….
Cermelj, who considers herself a subject of the Hawaiian Kingdom, told Big Island newspapers she took full responsibility for the graffiti to asphalt and structures on Maunakea, but denied defacing rocks. She said she spray-painted the wordage on April 28, 2017, to protest military training …
When Hiatt asked when Cermelj could begin serving the sentence, she told the judge, “No, I cannot. I have a dog attack, medications that I did not bring with me, so I’ll have to go to the hospital next door.”…
Also From Puna: ‘Immortal’ Murderer gets Life Sentence
read … Jail Punatic
Military Lesbian Charged with Attempted Murder of ‘Wife’
SA: …Police arrested a 34-year-old woman after she allegedly ran over two women with a pickup truck in Kalihi Wednesday night.
Police said the suspect ran over the two victims, ages 30 and 27, with a red Chevrolet pickup truck at the 1900 block of Kalihi Street at approximately 7:15 p.m.
The suspect and one of the victims are married. Police said the other woman struck by the vehicle is the new partner of the suspect’s wife….
At approximately 8:30 p.m., police located the perpetrator at her home on Skyview Loop (military housing) in the Aliamanu area and arrested her on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder….
read … Gays in the Military--Domestic Violence
Southwest’s CEO Bucks Skeptics With Hawaii Flights ‘Ready to Roll’
B: … Kelly says airline is ‘very close’ to FAA flight approval….Carrier would start service within weeks of green light….
read … Southwest’s CEO Bucks Skeptics With Hawaii Flights ‘Ready to Roll’
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