Keith Kaneshiro’s silence fails constituents, defense attorneys say

Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro is free to disclose that he is a target of a federal investigation into government corruption and owes it to the people who elected him to do so, several criminal defense attorneys told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Wednesday.

The attorneys were responding to a statement issued by the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney on Tuesday that said disclosing information about grand jury investigations is a violation of law. The prosecutor’s office would neither confirm nor deny that Kaneshiro and two of his top deputies, Chasid Sapolu and Janice Futa, received letters from the U.S. Justice Department linking them to the investigation.

Kaneshiro’s refusal to comment is only because he doesn’t want to answer questions about the case, the attorneys said. Since Kaneshiro is not presenting a case to the federal grand jury, he is free to speak about it and has an obligation to voters to do so, the defense attorneys said.

“Absolutely he does,” said Bill Harrison, one of six attorneys who told the Star-Advertiser that Kaneshiro would break no law by speaking about the letters. “He’s accountable to his constituents.”

Jonathan Burge, another defense attorney, called the prosecutor’s Tuesday statement bogus.

“He doesn’t want people to know about (the letter),” Burge said. “Then he’s in more trouble. That’s all it is.”

Kaneshiro’s office didn’t respond Wednesday afternoon to multiple requests for comment.

Kaneshiro received what is called a target letter, indicating he is a target of the federal investigation. His two deputies received what are called subject letters, meaning investigators suspect they may have committed misconduct but need to do more investigating.

Brook Hart, one of the attorneys the newspaper spoke to, said a high-ranking federal law enforcement official showed him on the official’s cellphone the target letter that Kaneshiro received.

At that point, Hart said, media reports about the letter were widely available online and the official wasn’t breaking any regulations by showing it to him. He declined to identify the official.

Hart added to the growing calls for Kaneshiro and the two deputies to go on leave until this situation is resolved and they are cleared of wrongdoing.

“To maintain the pristine reputation of the justice system to the extent it can be maintained, it would be for the better to have an attorney who is properly qualified to act in the stead of the attorney at the top of the office who is now a target of a federal investigation,” Hart said of Kaneshiro. “It’s a matter of the appearance of justice versus going on with everyday business as if nothing has happened. A lot has happened.”

Because attorneys in the prosecutor’s office bring cases before state grand juries regularly, they know what the law is and know that witnesses, targets or potential targets of investigations are free to speak about that if they so choose, the defense attorneys said.

“It’s grand jury 101,” said Alexander Silvert, the first assistant federal public defender.

That’s what makes Tuesday’s statement so concerning, they added.

“They are purposely putting out misinformation in order to avoid answering questions,” Silvert told the newspaper.

In Tuesday’s statement, Kaneshiro’s office noted that federal rules mandate that grand jury proceedings are secret to protect the investigations and to ensure a fair and unbiased process.

But the defense attorneys said the secrecy mandate applies to the prosecutors presenting the cases and the jurors hearing the evidence. It does not apply to witnesses, targets or potential targets, they said.

Burge noted that Police Chief Louis Kealoha publicly disclosed in 2016 that he had received a target letter from the Justice Department as part of the same corruption investigation and placed himself on administrative leave, removing any appearance of impropriety that would have remained had he stayed on the job.

“He did the right thing,” Burge said, faulting Kaneshiro for not doing the same thing.

Kealoha, his wife, former Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha, and several current and former police officers eventually were indicted by the federal grand jury. They pleaded not guilty, and their cases are pending.

The letters received by the three prosecutors are linked to that same federal investigation, which started several years ago.

Kaneshiro was re-elected to a four-year term in November 2016.