Occupy Honolulu advocate convicted on conduct charge

A state judge has found an Occupy Hono­lulu supporter guilty of the petty misdemeanor of disorderly conduct for her attempts to talk to Mayor Peter Carlisle at the city’s May Day festivities at Kapiolani Park Bandstand.

Honolulu District Judge Dean Ochiai sentenced Lau­lani Teale last week to 75 hours of community service.

Teale, 45, who represented herself, maintained that she was only trying to ask the mayor why police seized her banner a day earlier from the Occupy Hono­lulu protest at Thomas Square.

City Deputy Prosecutor Rob Rawson said prosection witnesses testified that Teale went onto the bandstand stage, disrupted performances and tried to approach Carlisle despite police telling her it wasn’t the time and place for raising her concerns.

She was arrested after she refused to leave, Rawson said.

Teale said she plans to appeal the conviction. She said the evidence and testimony did not support the judge’s guilty finding.