City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro apologized and took personal responsibility for the mishandling of a negligent-homicide case that has left the grieving family of an Ewa Beach man continuing to seek answers two years after he died from injuries he sustained when hit by a truck near his home.

Installation of a new electronic case-tracking filing system adds more safeguards to prevent a similar occurrence, Kaneshiro told the City Council’s Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

"I apologize for the failure of the prosecutor’s office in not proceeding with this particular case," Kaneshiro told family members who attended the meeting.

Wallace Nakama, 77-year-old veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, was hit by a truck while crossing a street on Jan. 12, 2012. He died a month later.

In February 2013, prosecutors had decided to charge the driver of the truck with third-degree negligent homicide, a misdemeanor.

But physical case files passed around were misplaced, and because they were not returned, the deputy prosecutor in charge of the case lost track of it until family members contacted Kaneshiro’s office. The deputy prosecutor then realized that the two-year statute of limitations, which runs from the day of the incident, had expired, Kaneshiro said.

"That was the mistake of our office, and I would say that’s why justice was not served to the Nakama family," he said.

Kaneshiro said putting in place an electronic case-tracking filing system that allows all documents to be scanned was a top priority for him when he entered office in October 2010.

The system allows different parties in his office to view all the files without physically handling the originals, he said. The new system, which went active in December, also issues automatic reminders to deputies and supervisors about key deadlines.

"What occurred in Mr. Nakama’s case was truly an injustice, and I’m deeply saddened by the fact that we did not do what we were supposed to do," Kaneshiro said.

The prosecutor’s office has declined to say whether the deputy in charge of the case was disciplined, citing employee confidentiality policies.

Asked whether lost files led to charges not being filed in other cases, Kaneshiro said his office has since discovered that 15-20 sex assault cases were never filed. All of the cases predate Kaneshiro’s tenure as Honolulu’s prosecutor. Prosecutor’s office spokesman Dave Koga said one deputy responsible for them failed to bring charges and kept the physical files in her office until she left her position shortly after Kaneshiro was elected.

The new system will prevent a repeat of such an occurrence, Koga said.

Each of 19 deputy prosecutors in the prosecutor’s office misdemeanors section reviews about 1,400 penal summons cases annually.

Addressing the Nakama case, Kaneshiro said, "That’s not an excuse for us not doing what we had to do in this particular case. I’m just letting you know … our deputies have a heavy caseload that they have to review within the statue of limitations time."

Ron Nakama, the victim’s son, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after the meeting that he is appreciative that Kaneshiro took responsibility and apologized. However, he said, the family still has a string of unanswered questions that it has not had an opportunity to ask Kaneshiro’s office.

Nakama said his family is also exploring the possibility of recovering some $200,000 in hospital bills his father incurred during the month before his death.

However, "we’re not about the money," Nakama said. "Justice is the key thing."

The family would like to believe that their case helped spur the filing system upgrade. "It’s a good thing, it’s a move forward," the son said. "So it doesn’t happen to another family."