A Kapolei woman who went to a Honolulu courtroom last month to see her son, a defendant in a domestic-abuse case, found herself jailed when the judge said she had improper contact with the alleged victim and her parents.
Corrina Gowan says the actions of Circuit Judge Edward Kubo Jr. were unjustified and that she is worried the petty misdemeanor conviction could cause her to lose her job as a teacher’s aide at Waianae High School.
Gowan spent more than 24 hours in custody following Kubo’s Dec. 6 order.
Gowan’s son Kalyn, 21, had been charged with kidnapping, assault and abuse involving his 19-year-old girlfriend.
At a Dec. 6 hearing, the prosecutor asked Kubo to increase or revoke Kalyn Gowan’s $100,000 bail for violating the conditions of his release and a court order prohibiting him from having contact with the alleged victim.
Corrina Gowan said she went to court that day to see her son one last time in case he was ordered back into custody.
At the start of the hearing, Gowan said, Kubo instructed her to step out of the gallery to face him. Gowan said Kubo told her he was sending her to jail without telling her why or giving her the opportunity to say anything.
Kubo sentenced Gowan to 100 hours in jail for contempt of court and her son to 30 days.
Gowan said she fell to her knees in disbelief.
"I went blank. All I know was OCCC (Oahu Community Correctional Center) and 100 hours," she said.
Defense lawyer Barry Sooalo petitioned Kubo to reduce Gowan’s sentence to 24 hours because she cares for two minor children and had no inkling that she could be going to jail when she went to court that day.
The prosecutor and Kubo agreed, but before signing it, Kubo added to the petition an order prohibiting Gowan from contacting her son’s girlfriend or any of the girlfriend’s family members.
By the time Gowan was released Dec. 7, she had been in custody for more than 24 hours.
Ten days later Kubo initiated and signed a formal, typewritten order prohibiting Gowan from contacting her son’s girlfriend or parents.
On Thursday, more than a month after he sent Gowan to jail, Kubo released his findings detailing her offense.
He said he found her guilty of being an accomplice to her son violating his court order, which prohibits him from having direct or indirect contact with his girlfriend.
Kubo said the prosecutor had informed the court Nov. 19 that Gowan met with her son’s girlfriend to try to persuade her to recant her complaint. And in the petition asking the court to revoke or increase the defendant’s bail, the prosecutor said Gowan met with the girlfriend’s parents three times and offered to pay their daughter’s bail; she was taken into custody Nov. 27 on a $5,000 warrant to assure her testimony in trial after Kubo granted the prosecutor a material witness order.
Kubo said he charged Gowan with helping her son violate his no-contact order, gave her an opportunity to respond and found her guilty.
Gowan said she did meet with the girlfriend, who said she would recant her accusations against Kalyn Gowan, and that she did meet with the parents and offer to pay the bail.
Until then Gowan said she had no idea what she did to warrant the contempt charge. Sooalo, the defense lawyer, said he believed the conviction was based on something Kubo perceived Gowan did in court.
Veteran defense lawyer and former state Public Defender Brook Hart — who is not a party to this case — said for Gowan to be found guilty without a trial, she first would need to be put on notice that her son’s no-contact order applied to her. She then would need to be informed of what action constituted a knowing violation of the order.
And finally, the violation needed to be committed in view and presence of the court.
A jury found Kalyn Gowan not guilty Friday of the assault and two felony abuse charges but was unable to reach verdicts on two misdemeanor abuse charges. Kubo acquitted Gowan of kidnapping after finding that the prosecutor failed to present sufficient evidence to the jury to support the charge.
