Audit says domestic violence cases jumped 615% from 2013 to 2016

The Honolulu Police Department and the city Prosecutor’s Office have seen an increase in their domestic violence caseloads in recent years but without a corresponding increase in successful prosecutions, a report released last week by city Auditor Edwin Young concludes.

Among the biggest barriers:

>> HPD and the Prosecutor’s Office do not process cases with the same data collection system, making it difficult for them to share information when needed. HPD and prosecutors, along with the state Judiciary, also have different procedures when it comes to dealing with domestic violence cases, which further complicates the situation, the audit says.

>> A 2014 law change that reclassified abuse in the presence of a child under 14 to a felony increased the workload for police and prosecutors, adding to a backlog in domestic violence cases in the court system, which increases the likelihood of dismissal due to timeliness, the audit says.

The audit shows that the number of domestic violence cases handled by HPD’s Criminal Investigations Division jumped to an estimated 1,538 in 2016 from 215 in 2013, a 615 percent increase. On the prosecutors’ side, the workload increased 79 percent to 471 cases in 2016 from 263 cases in 2014, the report says.

The audit points squarely at the 2014 change by state lawmakers for a good share of the increase. Changing the physical abuse in the presence of a child under 14 charge to a Class C felony drove up the caseload for both HPD and prosecutors but “has not produced much for the efforts involved,” the report states.

More than 53 percent of those felony cases were reclassified or downgraded to misdemeanors by prosecutors while less than 14 percent were accepted and charged as felonies, the report says. Many of the felonies could not be prosecuted because victims and children were unwilling to testify, the audit says.

Despite this increase in workload, the audit says, Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro has maintained a “no drop” policy and will prosecute a defendant even in cases where the victim refuses or is unavailable to testify, leaving a low probability of success.

Many defendants in domestic violence misdemeanor cases opt for a jury trial, often to delay prosecution, thus adding to the backlog, the audit says. That has led to a significant number of domestic violence cases being dismissed due to Hawaii’s speedy trial rule, the report says. Rule 48 allows a defendant to request dismissal of a domestic violence case if the trial does not start within six months of an arrest.

The audit recommends that HPD and prosecutors agree formally to eliminate the redundancy in their data collection systems and work toward a single, common collection system that both allows sharing of information while at the same time limiting access to sensitive or confidential information, the report says.

Kaneshiro, in his response to auditors, said he agreed with many of the report’s recommendations.

But he rejected the idea of revoking the 2014 law. While that would reduce the number of felonies, it would only shift the burden back to Family District Court, Kaneshiro said.

He also rejected changing the “no drop” policy. “It is our view that protection of the victims outweighs the reduction of cases,” Kaneshiro said.

HPD, through city Managing Director Roy Amemiya’s office, said it has been working with the Prosecutor’s Office to share information from its new Crime Reporting System.

The City Council called for the audit through adoption of Resolution 16-1 after a city Domestic Violence Response Task Force pointed out a need for more compatible data collection.

Councilwoman Kymberly Pine, chief author of the resolution, said too many domestic violence cases are not being prosecuted successfully.

“This audit proves the frustrations and real stories of women and men who are not seeing justice,” Pine said.

Nanci Kreidman, chief executive officer of the Domestic Violence Action Center, said survivors, their families and the community have been facing the issues raised in the audit for years.

In terms of the Prosecutor’s Office, “multiple continuances, dismissal of cases, (a) dismal conviction rate all point to the imperative for strong leadership and innovation,” Kreidman said.