Judge in Kenoi trial dismisses 3 charges of tampering with records
HILO >> Three charges against Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi for tampering with government records were dismissed today, leaving theft charges intact as his trial over misuse of his government purchasing card resumes this afternoon.
Kenoi is on trial before Judge Dexter Del Rosario in Circuit Court in Hilo after being indicted in March on four counts of theft, two of them second-degree felonies, and two third-degree; three counts of tampering with government records; and one count of false swearing or making a false statement under oath.
Del Resario made his ruling on the dismissed charges this afternoon outside of the presence of the jurors.
“The tampering counts are gone,” said Todd Eddins, Kenoi’s attorney.
Trial was set to resume at 2 p.m. on the other charges.
35 responses to “Judge in Kenoi trial dismisses 3 charges of tampering with records”
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What did this cost Kenoi?
Is anyone surprised? We have the most corrupt political machine going, except for Clinton/Obama.
Obviously you don’t understand this, but there was no crime committed. The judge was compelled to dismiss these charges. The facts of the case did not fit the law.
Isn’t it funny how these things work out? Oh shucks, I didn’t get enough evidence. Well, I guess they’ll just have to throw these charges out.
The court dismissed the tampering charges only, which leaves four counts of theft (two of them felonies), and one count of false swearing. There are a number of possible explanations for the dismissal of the tampering charges, but the dismissal absolutely does not mean that “there was no crime committed.” It probably means the prosecution can’t present a prima facie case for all the elements of the tampering offenses. The case is proceeding to trial on the remaining charges, which are serious. It’s not clear why tampering was charged in the first place, but dismissal of some charges at this point is not unusual, and probably just means the court is doing its job.
Klastri – I guess our incompetent attorney general and stupid grand jury members just don’t understand the law either huh.
Perhaps you should go explain it to them so there won’t be any further frivolous charges made against the Honorable Billy Kenoi.
Why do you say “there was no crime committed”? What do you know that nobody else knows. It’s obvious that people think a crime was committed because he is on trial.
Ha!
The Judge is going to dismiss the case.
The judicial “fix” is in – acquittal on all charges coming before the general election.
Nah, he kept the top counts. If there is an acquittal its going to be because the jury declined to convict, and i would hope we would all respect the jury’s verdict no matter what the outcome.
The “fix” was in the moment they appointed Del Rosario as the Judge. Kenoi was the law clerk to Judge Perkins, who is friends with Del Rosario, both former public defenders. Kenoi was a public defender as well. It’s all fixed. Eddins and Sing are Kenoi’s buddies from the public defender’s office. The trial should have been moved to Honolulu and Del Ro should have recused his sorry self. The jury will nullify the remaining counts. The crime occurred, but the people will fall victim to the red herring offered by Eddins. Like the “lomi” excuse cuz that’s how they roll on the B.I. Good grief.
As a Big Island resident, I can tell you that we all saw this coming. He will probably walk on the theft charges via jury nullification, or at best, get a mistrial due to a hung jury. The so-called Hawaii justice system was never serious about convicting Kenoi. It would open all sorts of closet doors.
The best hope for justice in this case would be if a Federal prosecutor would get on Kenoi’s behind like a pit bull. That won’t happen, however, because Danny Boy Inouye made sure that all the prosecutors the Feds appointed put a low priority on political corruption cases. Gotta take care of your own, you know.
Actually, there was no crime as the judge correctly decided. This has nothing to do with Senator Inouye. The facts of the case simply didn’t didn’t constitute a crime. Even if convicted, the conviction would never have survived an appeal.
Everyone should feel comfort that judges have this role, and that they do their job. They can stop improper prosecutions, and did so in this case.
The judge made the correct decision. People here (who know absolutely nothing about the law) will write that this was some kind of political fix, but that’s not true. It doesn’t matter what looks wrong to the public. It matters what the law says and what the facts are. The facts and the law didn’t equal a crime. Period.
I’ve been writing since this case was first filed that there was no crime and there will be no conviction that survives and appeal. Told you so!
The AG wildly overreached here for some reason that I don’t understand. There was never any possibility of a conviction on this charge.
So were you in court? Did you review all of the evidence or are you just speaking out of your behind?
I’m a trial attorney. The facts of the charge (a public document printed in the SA) didn’t fit the law.
You can believe whatever you want to believe. I couldn’t care less.
Oh like the SA is a reliable source. I would never hire you to defend me. Did you see the evidence? Well
Hitaxpayer – I understand that you don’t know anything – you’ve made that sadly clear for quite a while. It’s not a matter of the SA being a reliable source. It was a scan of the actual charge. Not something left open to the whim of a reporter.
Court documents are public records. Read them for yourself and learn something. Anything would help at this point.
The judge dismissed the tampering charges. The judge did NOT dismiss the other charges against Kenoi – 4 counts of theft and one count of false swearing or making a false statement under oath. The trial is still ongoing on the remaining charges.
You couldn’t be a lawyer if you can’t even read.
Thank you for your post klastri
It sure looks the guy will walk.
The circus act has started. This crook is going to WALK…..
Ha!
He’ll skate, darn it.
Agree 100% with klastri, especially with the comment about the AG wildly overreached. It seems to be the norm looking the indictments coming out of the the AG’s office. I remember Kenoi’s attorney, Todd Eddins, accusing the AG’s of “abuse of power” and a “radical view of the law” in an unrelated case. IMO, this is the works of someone at the AG’s being overzealous. Being aggressive is a good thing, being overzealous, not so much.
How can you say that? Kenoi’s misuse of the P-card is a fact. There is plenty of evidence that shows that he used his P-card at some bar and also bought personal items with it. Kenoi himself admitted to those charges.
Politics at it’s best. The charges regarding the actual use of the card still stand and will go before a jury.
They tell me that is how it is done thru out the USA. For those looking for blood be comforted that the most serious charges are still going on.
Gotta admit tho , buying a surfboard …………well , like I said , let the courts do their thing. I’m sure that if Billy Boy is found not guilty on Big Island it will go to appeal , there seems to be great energy in the Prosecuter’s Office.
Hey SA, why are you allowing this type of demeaning description of women? I thought posting should be in good taste.
If you think that your comment connects to the use of a p-card, you might be having a stroke.
As the Police Captain Louis Renault exclaimed in the movie, Casablanca, “I’m shocked!”
If bets were made on jail time or no jail time, I think most bets would be on no jail time. And if found no crime was commited, everyone holding a Pcard should have no problem with doing what Mayor Kenoi did and if questioned just say that they should have known better and they had every intention of paying it back. Also what would happen if every federal employee used non-government email to conduct all their official and non-official business – answer: nothing?
Shocking.
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I suspect the rest of the charges will be dropped or Kenoi will be found not guilty. Either way his political career is over and that’s probably all that the democratic machine wanted in the first place.