Judge dismisses petition to impeach Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro
DENNIS ODA / DEC. 14, 2017
City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro has been on voluntary paid leave since March 7, after he was notified late last year that he was a target of a federal investigation into government corruption.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / Feb. 14
Tracy Yoshimura, right, seen here in February with his attorney Keith Kiuchi, vows to continue his effort to impeach city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro.
An online petition seeking to have Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro impeached was dismissed on procedural grounds by state Circuit Judge Jeffrey Crabtree today.
Attorneys from the Honolulu Department of Corporation Counsel, which is representing City Clerk Glen Takahashi, had argued that the city has the discretion to not accept electronic signatures and that the policy was based on fraud concerns.
Oahu businessman Tracy Yoshimura collected electronic signatures for his petition and his attorney, Keith Kiuchi, argued that the city should accept electronic signatures. He pointed out that the city accepts voter registration applications that are filed online with electronic signatures.
Crabtree disagreed.
“The court finds it is not unreasonable or discriminatory for the city to take the position that fraudulent and or questionable signatures are a valid concern for online petitions to impeach duly elected public officials,” Crabtree ruled.
Yoshimura said Kaneshiro should be impeached because he is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and, therefore, has cast a cloud over the city Department of the Prosecuting Attorney and the cases prosecuted under Kaneshiro’s authority.
The Honolulu City Charter requires the signatures of 500 registered Oahu voters but is silent on the issue of electronic filings.
“The court finds there is no way to tell based on the record in this case whether the actual or proposed ‘digital signers’ of either petitioner’s initial petition or his proposed amended petition are actually different people, or whether they are duly registered voters of the city of Honolulu,” Crabtree’s ruling said.
Yoshimura plans to refile a petition to impeach Kaneshiro, Kiuchi said.
Kaneshiro has been on voluntary paid leave since March 7.
He was notified last year that he was a target of a federal investigation into government corruption.
Kaneshiro had been the boss of former city Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha, whom a federal jury two weeks ago found guilty of criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
