Editorial: Seeking a new prosecutor

Given the controversies and tumult that have rocked the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office in the past year or two, many Oahu voters are eager for next year’s election to choose a successor to Keith Kaneshiro. That race is shaping up in intriguing fashion, with strong likely contenders for an office not usually hotly contested. Megan Kau, a defense attorney who’s fairly visible as a legal analyst, announced her candidacy Tuesday, drawing the support of former mayor and one-time prosecutor, Peter Carlisle.

Carlisle had considered running again for prosecutor, but decided not to. Instead, Kau might well be vying against well-regarded retired Judge Steve Alm, who’s reportedly considering a run, as well as civil litigator RJ Brown, a former deputy prosecutor. This race is drawing formidable candidates as well as excitement — all good for voters.

As for Kaneshiro: He’s now drawing $177,000 annually after going on paid leave in March, months after receiving a target letter from the Department of Justice (DOJ). Kaneshiro’s status is pending the outcome of a wide-ranging, federal investigation into his office, somehow linked to the corruption scandals involving Louis and Katherine Kealoha — he, Oahu’s former police chief; she, Kaneshiro’s one-time top deputy.

The Kealohas’ cases sullied public confidence in HPD, and the ominous clouds over the Prosecutor’s Office have yet to break. In addition to Kaneshiro, first deputy prosecutor Chasid Sapolu went on paid leave in December after receiving a DOJ subject letter. Dwight Nadamoto is now acting prosecuting attorney, while the federal case involving Kaneshiro and the others unfold.

However that turns out, voters deserve new leadership and a fresh start for the Prosecutor’s Office.