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Defense lawyer Myles Breiner says the Honolulu deputy prosecutor who admitted shoving him tried to have a relationship with a woman who was the complaining witness in two domestic violence cases he was prosecuting, drafted legal documents for her civil case while he was still working as a Maui deputy prosecutor, went to her home in the middle of the night while drunk and assaulted her adult son.
Deputy Prosecutor Emlyn Higa denies the accusations and calls them “as distressing, confusing and disheartening to me as they are false.”
Breiner made his latest claims against Higa in a document he filed in state Circuit Court on Friday. He is trying to get Higa disqualified from prosecuting one of his clients in an attempted murder case. It was after a contentious pretrial hearing on the case last month when Higa admits he shoved Breiner in a state courthouse hallway.
Circuit Judge Paul B.K. Wong heard arguments on Breiner’s request to disqualify Higa on Sept. 26 but has yet to rule. Wong is the presiding judge in the attempted murder case.
Honolulu District Judge Hilary Benson Gangnes granted Breiner’s request last week for an injunction against Higa. The order prohibits Higa from contacting, threatening or harassing Breiner for three years. It also prohibits Higa from visiting Breiner’s home or workplace. It does not prevent Higa from handling cases involving Breiner clients, but orders him to stay at least 5 feet away from Breiner in the courtroom.
The Maui woman and her son were in Honolulu District Court on Breiner’s behalf when Gangnes handed down the injunction. They didn’t have to testify because Higa, who brought his own witnesses, agreed to the injunction.
According to a Maui Police Department report from Dec. 5, 2016, Higa went to the woman’s home at 2:45 a.m. Her son told police Higa kicked him in the head, punched him twice and then choked him. The report was for misdemeanor assault.
The son says he did not file a complaint against Higa because police told him that if he did, they would file a complaint against him.
An MPD spokesman says the department forwarded the case to the Maui Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, which says it never received the report. No assault charge was ever filed against Higa.
Breiner says Higa paid the woman hush money to discourage her and her son from pursuing the assault case and submitted documents of 14 wire payments ranging from $10 to $200. The payment dates were between June 15 and Sept. 29 this year and came with “Food,” “Flight” and “Happy Birthday” annotations, and gasoline and entertainment emojis.
In a written statement Higa says he and others have helped the woman when she claimed to be helpless.
“There were many, many times when she was hungry and claimed to be without resources, but would not seek public assistance, unless I accompanied her,” he said.
Higa says the woman did not work because she said she was emotionally disabled. He said he gave her small amounts of money when she called him and said she was hungry but could not afford food.
He says he never behaved inappropriately with her at any time and never used his office improperly, even when the woman asked him to on her behalf.
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