Big Island mayor wants court to throw out his theft charges

Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi has asked a Circuit Court judge to dismiss charges stemming from a state investigation of his alleged misuse of a county credit card, the Hawaii Tribune Herald reported Tuesday.

Kenoi’s trial is scheduled for Oct. 10 in Hilo before Honolulu Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario, who is presiding over the case because all Hawaii island judges recused themselves.

A hearing on the dismissal motions will be held Sept. 16 in Hilo.

Defense attorney Todd Eddins filed motions Aug. 8 seeking dismissal of the two felony and two misdemeanor theft charges. He also is requesting dismissal of three counts of tampering with a government record and one count of making a false statement under oath — all misdemeanors.

One of the motions to dismiss the March 23 indictment is based on “violation of the defendant’s right to a fair and impartial grand jury proceedings (sic),” while another is “based on violation of (Kenoi’s) due process rights,” according to court records.

The motion to dismiss the two second-degree theft charges, both Class C felonies, which carry a possible five-year prison term upon conviction, are “based on failure to provide adequated (sic) notice as to the terms of the charges,” court records said.

The charges stemmed from a yearlong investigation by the state attorney general’s office into the mayor’s purchases using his county credit card, also known as a pCard. The investigation started after the West Hawaii Today newspaper reported Kenoi used his pCard to pay for apparent personal expenses, including an $892 tab at Club Evergreen, a Honolulu hostess bar.

The mayor racked up more than $129,000 in charges on the government credit card between January 2009 and March 2015.

Kenoi reimbursed the county for $22,292 in personal charges between those dates. He later paid back about $9,500 more after Big Island newspapers published stories examining his pCard use.

By law, Kenoi cannot run for re-election this year because he has reached the term limitation of two four-year terms.

He will be succeeded in December by former Mayor Harry Kim, who won Saturday’s primary election.