The state Senate on Friday voted to confirm two Big Island judges.
The state Senate on Friday voted to confirm two Big Island judges.
Wendy M. DeWeese was confirmed to the Kona Circuit Court seat vacated by the retirement of Judge Melvin Fujino last year. DeWeese has been a judge Third Circuit District Family Court since July 2020 and had been temporarily assigned to the Circuit Court where she presided over the Big Island Drug Court, the Big Island Veterans’ Treatment Court, felony criminal trials, civil cases including foreclosures, and jury and non-jury trials.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, DeWeese was a deputy public defender in the Kona office for 11 years.
Kimberly B.M. Taniyama was confirmed to Kona District Court, filling the vacancy left by the retirement of Judge Margaret K. Masunaga in 2020. She had been a per diem judge in Kona with her own law practice since 2017.
Prior to starting her own practice, she was a deputy prosecuting attorney in Hawaii County for 19 years
