City prosecutors gave false data to grand jury, suit says

The lead defendant in a state case regarding gambling machines is suing the city, Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, the two deputies Kaneshiro assigned to the case and a department investigator for allegedly knowingly presenting false information to the grand jury that returned an indictment against him.

Tracy Yoshimura, one of nine people charged in a May 1 indictment, which included 414 counts of racketeering, gambling and money laundering, filed the lawsuit in state court Tuesday. He said the defendants are guilty of malicious prosecution, negligence and violating his constitutional rights.

On Oct. 9, at the state’s request, Circuit Judge Randal K.O. Lee dismissed the indictment. The state said there were deficiencies with the indictment and that it was going to seek a new one after correcting those deficiencies.

As part of the request to dismiss, deputy city prosecutors Katherine Kealoha, wife of Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha, and Jacob Delaplane submitted written declarations that said they did not know when they presented their case to the grand jury in May that Yoshimura was not the registered owner of the arcades from where Honolulu police had seized 77 Products Direct Sweepstakes machines in September 2012.

Yoshimura is the owner of PJY Enterprises, the business that distributed the machines.

Under questioning from Kealoha, however, Vernon Branco, an investigator for the city Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, told the grand jury that Yoshi­mura was the owner of the arcades.

One day earlier, a federal judge in a related civil case ruled that the machines are gambling devices prohibited under Hawaii law.

Under questioning from Delaplane, a Las Vegas gaming expert testified that the seized machines are gambling devices but failed to tell the state grand jury that the judge in the civil case refused to qualify him as an expert on Products Direct Sweepstakes machines.

A month and a half after he dismissed the case, Lee upheld his decision to give the state the opportunity to seek a new indictment. Yoshimura and the other defendants had asked him to prohibit the state from seeking a new indictment because they contend that Kealoha and Delaplane knew or should have known from the civil case that Yoshimura was not the owner of the arcades. Lee did, however, find that Kealoha and Delaplane committed misconduct and disqualified them from any new case involving the machines.

Lee also said if there is a new indictment, which he said he doubts, based on the evidence the state presented to the grand jury, he will decide whether the defendants will need to post bail again.