Kawananakoa takes witness stand in her defense

Abigail Kawananakoa denied she had a stroke, accused her former attorney of lying and disputed the need for independent oversight of her financial affairs during more than an hour of court testimony that was open to the public Monday afternoon.

But the 93-year-old Campbell Estate heiress also forgot names and timelines, didn’t understand some questions, lost her train of thought and seemed confused at times in 1st Circuit Court.

It was the opening day of a three-day hearing to determine whether a conservator should be named to handle Kawananakoa’s personal financial affairs.

Following a brief opening session Monday morning, Judge James Ashford cleared members of the public from the courtroom, citing an earlier ruling to protect Kawananakoa’s medical and financial affairs.

Dr. David Trader, a Los Angeles psychiatrist who has now evaluated Kawananakoa for a second time, testified about her mental state behind closed doors in the morning.

In the afternoon Kawananakoa took the stand for the first time since the dispute erupted after the alleged stroke sent her to the hospital and prompted her attorney, James Wright, to take control of her $215 million estate as trustee under terms previously spelled out if she became incapacitated.

Kawananakoa’s longtime partner and now wife, Veronica Gail Worth Kawananakoa, challenged the move in court, and in 2018 a judge ruled that Kawananakoa was incapable of making complex changes to the trust or of revoking her trust or even firing and replacing its trustee.

He appointed First Hawaiian Bank to serve as trustee and removed Wright — although both of those actions remain in limbo because of the ongoing litigation. Wright remains the interim trustee.

Megan Kau, an attorney representing Kawananakoa’s former servants, asked Monday whether Kawananakoa wanted to be addressed as “princess.” She said she preferred “Ms. Abigail.”

When Kawananakoa was asked whether she understood who her trustee is, she said, “Well, I’m not dead yet, so what do you mean trustee? Who needs to handle my estate if I’m still alive?”

The questioning turned to Wright, and Kawananakoa said she fired him because he was lying. Kau asked her what he was lying about. “What wasn’t he lying about?” she replied, adding that, among other things, he greatly exaggerated the severity of her medical emergency.

Kau asked about the details of a variety of cases and issues Kawananakoa has been involved in in recent years. Among them was the eviction of Kau’s clients from the Pearl City home she bought for them to live in. Kawananakoa said her head housekeeper, Thongbay Smart, “walked out on me,” but court records indicate Smart was fired.

Kawananakoa was at times sassy and defiant and offered a few humorous quips during her time on the witness stand. But she also couldn’t remember her accountant’s name and had trouble recalling the interview she gave to a former television journalist in her own home last year.

During a break, Worth went to the witness stand to talk to her wife. When the break was over, Kau asked Kawananakoa whether she discussed the case with Worth, and the judge also asked the same question. Kawananakoa replied that she had not.

“She just wanted to say how brilliant I am,” she said.

But a television microphone picked up the conversation, and the recording revealed that Worth had reminded Kawananakoa about one of the cases she was questioned about.