Kealoha sues city ethics panel to obtain copy of complaint

Deputy Honolulu Prosecutor Katherine Kea­loha maintains that she, like her husband, Hono­lulu Police Chief Louis Kea­loha, is the subject of an ethics investigation and is suing the city Ethics Commission for a copy of the complaint filed against her.

Kealoha filed her lawsuit in state court last week. She referred inquiries about the suit to her lawyers, who said it’s their policy not to comment on pending litigation.

In the lawsuit, Kea­loha claims that the commission, citing confidentiality, has refused her request for a copy of the complaint.

Ethics Commission Executive Director Charles Totto said the commission does not discuss whether it is conducting an investigation into misconduct of a specific person. He also said state and city laws require confidentiality to ensure a fair proc­ess.

Commission rules prohibit commission members and staff from disclosing "the facts of an investigation, including the identity of the complainant, except to the extent necessary to continue the investigation."

Kealoha cites city ordinance that provides that an "employee or officer whose conduct is the subject of the complaint shall have an opportunity to respond in writing within 15 days after receipt of a copy of the complaint." The ordinance does not specify whether the receipt is by the commission or the employee.

Totto said ethics laws provide that a subject in an ethics investigation is allowed a copy of the signed, written complaint against him or her, if one exists. The copy would have information that identifies the complainant removed to protect the confidentiality of the whistleblower, he said.

"More often, our investigations are based on oral information received," Totto said.

City ordinance and commission rules allow the Ethics Commission to initiate its own complaint and investigation.

The commission, according to its rules, would issue a written Notice of Possible Violation of the Standards of Conduct only after its staff determines that evidence supports a finding of probable cause. The rules then allow the subject of the investigation to respond explaining his or her conduct and/or request a hearing.

The FBI and city Ethics Commission initiated separate investigations into the Hono­lulu Police Department’s handling of a complaint by the Kea­lo­has that Katherine Kea­lo­ha’s uncle stole their mailbox.

HPD eventually turned over its investigation to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which then filed a federal criminal case against the uncle, Gerard Puana.

Puana went to trial in December in U.S. District Court on a charge of destroying a letter or mailbox. His lawyer told the jury that the person seen stealing the mailbox on recorded security video is not Puana. The lawyer said the Kea­lo­has identified Puana as the thief in order to discredit the uncle in a bitter civil dispute between Katherine Kea­loha on one side and her uncle and grandmother on the other.

The judge declared a mistrial after Chief Kea­loha gave unsolicited testimony of Puana’s criminal history.

Less than two weeks later, the judge permanently dismissed the case at the request of the federal prosecutor.

Puana’s lawyer said the prosecutor had the case dismissed after he presented all the evidence, including that of police misconduct, that he was going to pre­sent during the trial. The lawyer said he then presented the evidence to the FBI.

The FBI has yet to reveal any findings of its investigation.

Whether the city Ethics Commission will be able to pre­sent its own findings might hinge on whether it can rehire its investigator.

The commission’s lone investigator was working for the city on a series of 90-day contracts. The last contract expired at the end of last month, and Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration has yet to approve a new one.