Former Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi, now a private practice attorney, went public last week with her case against the county as she tried to clear the name of retired police captain Chadwick Fukui, whose charges in a 2017 case were dismissed by a judge.
Fukui was charged with obstructing government operations and two counts each of second-degree hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence, in a case involving police officers allegedly tipping off Hilo arcade owners prior to a 2017 police gambling raid.
Brian Miller, a retired Hilo vice detective, was also charged in that case, in addition to charges he stole cocaine from a police evidence locker and further counts of intimidating a witness, retaliating against a witness, witness tampering, second-degree terroristic threatening and harassment.
Miller’s trial has been postponed nine times and is now set for Nov. 7, 2023.
On Wednesday, during the public testimony period of the council meeting, Kawauchi took note of Fukui’s request for $58,747 compensation for legal bills that was set for executive session at the end of the meeting.
She lamented the besmirching of what she called the good name of a dedicated county employee who worked both in the Hawaii Police Department and also the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney for a total of 41 years.
But also important for Kawauchi were what she saw as serious conflicts of interest for Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy and Mayor Mitch Roth. Lee Loy because her retired police detective husband, Ian Lee Loy, was the lead investigator in the police case and Roth because he was the county prosecutor when an unlawful subpoena was used that resulted in a search warrant being suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree.
Kawauchi questioned whether Lee Loy should be voting on the matter and whether Roth, who appointed the county corporation counsel who oversees county civil attorneys, had a conflict of interest.
“This is a matter of public right to transparency and public disclosure of individual self-interest in government and avoidance of self-dealing,” Kawauchi said. “These are serious ethics issues and they need to be addressed.”
Lee Loy, who on March 9 made what is basically a parliamentary motion to close file on the claim for compensation and then moved to postpone the measure until last Wednesday, said Monday that she had in March returned comments about the case to the clerk and asked that she not be informed on the matter. She said she did recuse herself from the executive session Wednesday.
“While Ms Kawauchi is advocating for her client, her claims about my actions are misplaced,” Lee Loy said. “She actually divulged confidential information about her client’ claims.”
Council records show that the council, on an 8-0 vote with Lee Loy excused, concurred with corporation counsel’s recommendation in a closed executive session Wednesday. It’s not known what the recommendation was, as Deputy Corporation Counsel Lerisa Heroldt, representing the county in the claims, on Monday stated the recommendation was exempt from disclosure as it is an attorney-client communication.
