Katherine Kealoha seeks to postpone another trial

Former deputy prosecutor Katherine Kealoha is asking the court to postpone her upcoming federal trial because of the federal government shutdown.

Her court-appointed lawyer Cynthia Kagiwada filed the request in U.S. District Court just before 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Kagiwada said she confirmed Wednesday that she will not be compensated for her attorney fees and other expenses, including for the assistance of a paralegal, investigators and a jury consultant, until after the shutdown, which started last month.

Kealoha claims that leaves her without her constitutionally guaranteed effective assistance of counsel.

The trial for Kealoha, her retired Honolulu police chief husband, Louis Kealoha, and three former members of the Honolulu Police Department’s Criminal Intelligence Unit is scheduled to begin with jury selection March 18. All of the defendants are charged with conspiring to frame a Kealoha relative with stealing the Kealohas’ mailbox and lying about it to cover up their actions.

U.S. District Chief Judge J. Michael Seabright said Monday he intends to send questionnaires to 1,000 to 1,200 prospective jurors.

Louis Kealoha and one of the other defendants, Minh-Hung “Bobby” Nguyen, also have court-appointed lawyers.

This is not the first time Katherine Kealoha asked the court for a postponement. She and her husband were scheduled to stand trial on federal bank fraud charges last November. One month before the trial date Kagiwada filed papers asking the court to postpone the trial because Kealoha was suffering from an undisclosed medical condition.

The bank fraud trial is now scheduled for June.