Thursday, August 4, 2016

Musings: Means and Ends

Note: This post has been corrected.

The anti-GMO Hawaii Center for Food Safety Action Fund spent $4,434.66 on election mailers to support 14th House District candidate Fern Rosenstiel.

The money came from the mainland-based Center for Food Safety Action Fund, the uber wealthy banking heiress Lavinia Currier, who started the Sacharuna Foundation and owns a ranch on Molokai; and Oahu resident Randy Ching, co-founder and president of Civil Beat, an activist with the Sierra Club. [Correction: I identified the wrong Randy Ching.]

Campaign reports show Ching also donated $2,000 directly to Fern's campaign, as well as to Maui House candidate Tiare Lawrence. Both are on the CFS slate.

Gee, so Civil Beat funder/founder and editorial board member Pierre Omidyar is donating money to CFS, and Ching has teamed up with CFS to support anti-GMO candidates. Cozy. Stinky, even. [Correction: Omidyar does fund CFS, but Civil Beat's Randy Ching has not given campaign donations to anti-GMO candidates. E kala mai.]

Yet to hear editor Patti Epler tell it, Civil Beat has no conflict of interest at all. Ya, right.

For someone who claims to be a “grassroots candidate," Fern has been heavily bankrolled by off-island sources. CFS also ran a misleading phone campaign for Fern, where they made like she was the only candidate supporting local food.

Isn't this what's known as astro-turfing?

Interestingly, one of Fern's big donors — Jeffrey Bronfman, New Mexico-Maui resident, Seagram whiskey heir and mestre in the ahuyasca church — also made $2,000 donations to Tiare and House hopeful Jonathan Wong, another candidate on the CFS slate.

Curious how these anti-corporate candidates have no problem taking money derived from banking and booze empires.

Meanwhile, Monday's post on the Kauai prosecutor's race piqued the interest of the legal community, with some members raising concerns about the ethics and honesty of challenger Lisa Arin.

It seems Arin has twice had cases thrown out of court because she failed to share all the evidence with defense attorneys, as is required by law and legal ethics.

In a felony assault and abuse case, she buried a police report in which the officer questioned the credibility of the accuser to the point of suggesting the accuser should be prosecuted for filing a false report. 

The omission was revealed on the eve of the trial. And it came out only because Arin was on vacation. The deputy prosecutor handling the case in her absence noticed the document and properly turned it over to the defense, who immediately requested a dismissal.

According to the court minutes:

BASED UPON THE CHAMBERS MEETING WITH COUNSEL AND THE STATEMENTS AND ARGUMENTS PRESENTED, THE COURT GAVE A STERN WARNING TO THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE ABOUT TURNING OVER EVIDENCE IN A TIMELY MANNER. COURT NOTED THAT WHILE IT WILL NOT ISSUE A SANCTION AGAINST THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE, IT WILL CONDUCT A FURTHER INVESTIGATION AND WILL CONSIDER REFERRAL OF THIS MATTER TO THE OFFICE OF THE DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL. THE COURT DISMISSED THE MATTER WITH PREJUDICE.

Another breach occurred in the case of Steve Westerman, who was charged with six counts of sexual assault. According to the order to declare a mistrial, which the court granted:

In the fourth day of a jury trial, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lisa Arin began her cross-examination of the last Defense witness by asking: “Dr. Acklin, isn't it true that your own son is currently charged with sexually assaulting a child?” The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney possessed this information including “publicly accessible” documents relating to Dr. Acklin's son's pending case which were never disclosed to the Defendant or the Court. 

By not disclosing this information... [Arin's] conduct infringed on Defendant's right to a fair trial. The failure to disclose was prosecutorial misconduct.

In this case, Arin's misconduct was referred to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, and the OPA had to retry the case, with First Deputy Jennifer Winn securing a conviction.

Concerns also were raised about Arin's zeal to convict, which resulted in such questionable tactics as "fudging probable cause to ramp misdemeanors into felonies," intentionally setting high bails and taking dicey actions with the Grand Jury, such as filing lesser charges based on police declarations when she knew the victim was recanting or refusing to participate.

It's one thing to be tough on crime. It's quite another to act as if the ends justify the means. That's an attitude that has no place in the Office of Prosecuting Attorney.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fern also indicates that the locals are too stupid to run the County.
Arin Deputy PA did some mistakes. She worked UNDER the PA. It is the PA job to keep zealous attorneys in line. The PA is also responsible for all conduct in the office.
When Shay was under the spotlight, every misdeed, office party, whimsical comment etc that came out of the A's office was laid at her doorstep.
Equal treatment under the perceptions?
The fact is, Justin goes after the young problem doper/traffic youngens and sex offenders. His work with wife beaters and sex offenders is great. Great.
But the hard guys get off easy. The GI which is also in Justin's support group made a halfway excuse for the plea bargain.
The plea bargain is essential and as many of us know, a jury can do fantastical things.
But JUSTIN sure seems to plea hard, vicious, violent crimes down way more than the kid who made a little mistake.
Fear of retribution? Maybe.
I have hired parolees for years. Most go back to Halawa because of petty dope offenses. But the system works...
The Cops supporting Arin has nothing to do with the Cop who ran over the poor kid at Makaweli. The PA may have stretched the charge a bit, as this was a mistake. An avoidable mistake. (If a Harada had done this, Justin would walk this back to a speeding ticket in a plea bargain)
We need a new prosecutor. We need strong law enforcement. The Police Department has come a long way from the Cop's privately-owned semi-slick tired Dodge Chargers of the 70s.
Support your local police. Support Chief Perry, let's get a strong prosecutor. A prosecutor that will work with the police. The long arm of justice must be strong, not a limp wrist.

Anonymous said...

"Arin Deputy PA did some mistakes." Is that what knowingly withholding evidence favorable to the defense is called nowadays? The PA is responsible for the acts of his deputies in so far as he permitted a culture of such behavior to exist. Otherwise, the PA is not going to get into the weeds in every case. As a prosecutor charged with pursuing justice and with the power to take away another human being's liberty, Arin's behavior is reprehensible. She is unfit to be a deputy prosecutor yet she is running to lead the office.

Anonymous said...

Arin is responsible for her own "mistakes," one of which occurred under Shay.

Anonymous said...

All I can say is Wow! Her true character is coming to light. Not good!

Anonymous said...

Most all of Shaylene's 90% conviction rate was from Plea Deals and her protect a criminal program so your BS is nothing more than hearsay.

Anonymous said...

The judges in Kauai are just as corrupt as the attorney. Judges on Kauai make sure evidence and witnesses aren't present in court even when they know a defense attorney lied about submitting subpoenas. Judges on Kauai violate civil rights laws and there's many cases on Kauai with proof of their criminal acts.

BASED UPON THE CHAMBERS MEETING WITH COUNSEL AND THE STATEMENTS AND ARGUMENTS PRESENTED, THE COURT GAVE A STERN WARNING TO THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE ABOUT TURNING OVER EVIDENCE IN A TIMELY MANNER. COURT NOTED THAT WHILE IT WILL NOT ISSUE A SANCTION AGAINST THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE, IT WILL CONDUCT A FURTHER INVESTIGATION AND WILL CONSIDER REFERRAL OF THIS MATTER TO THE OFFICE OF THE DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL. THE COURT DISMISSED THE MATTER WITH PREJUDICE.

Anonymous said...

What a fricking mess!!!!


Chief, mayor dispute could go to Supreme Court

Michelle Iracheta - The Garden Island Posted: 7 hours ago

LIHUE — After a lengthy debate about depoliticizing the police department and policy making, the Kauai County Council Wednesday decided to...




Assistant chief files injunction

Michelle Iracheta - The Garden Island Updated: 1 hour ago

LIHUE — The attorneys for the assistant chief who filed a lawsuit against the Kauai Police Department for retaliation is asking the court to s…

Once the Feds are done going after HPD chief of police Kealoha, they should then work on the police chiefs of Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island. The DOJ should set a precedence and let it be known that the police dept's aren't Mafia families.

Anonymous said...

Ok, so the Seagrams heir inherited money from a company that was a major shareholder of DuPont. Now he's investing in anti-GMO candidates. Irony or hypocrisy?

Anonymous said...

@ 7:01am...your ignorance and/or misrepresentations of the truth are laughable. Your examples of the SHOPO endorsement, HARADA and need to support Chief Perry, highlight how "out of the know" you are...your rambling post is at best discredible. You know nothing about the HARADA case(s), Defendant, witness(es), context or circumstances, yet you gripe that the guy is going away for a decade? SHOPO made public the fact that they were not endorsing Kollar because of his prosecution of their Officer (despite KPD's own recommendation to do so). Also, it is nuanced but important to note that KPD does NOT endorse Arin...SHOPO does...the Kauai Police Department and its Officers CANNOT endorse any candidate. Arin's misrepresentation of this fact in her campaign materials is improper if not unethical. And while I respect Chief Perry, the reality is KPD needs a new chief to move forward and reset its administration.

Joan Conrow said...

John Kauai,
I'm not going to let my blog be used to promote either that website or that piece of crap book. If you'd like to resubmit without that link, feel free.

John Kauai said...

OK Joan. I had no idea.

It was interesting finding all those different stories. Just trying to understand Kauai.

I had the impression that "that book" was rated as "common knowledge" and accurate. I re-read all the reviews especially the one's that said they were from Kauai. There was only one that said "it ain't true". But I have no desire to get into an argument over it. I'm not taking sides.

Anyway, I can understand the "here we go again" meme after reading all those other articles. I'm guessing others probably already know or wouldn't be interested in them so I'll just leave it alone.

I found another blog, codefore, is that one reliable?

This reminds me of following Alex Jones. Probably made up stuff.

Anonymous said...

Good job, Joan. Telling John Kauai he cannot post a link. I do wonder, though, why you canʻt post the link and let us readers decide whether it is crap or not? Perhaps most of us can decide for ourselves? And get to know more about John in the process?

Joan Conrow said...

It's my blog, not a public bulletin board, and I reserve the right to reject any links or comments that I want. If you want to get to know John, take him to coffee.

Anonymous said...

oh, SNAP!

Anonymous said...

It must be true, I read it on the internet.

anonymous said...

!2:54- Yes, it must be true. GMOʻs are completely safe. I read it on the internet!

Anonymous said...

My book is better. All you people have to do is ask Gary C. King: True Crime Author. He has 100's if not 1000's of details. The book could destroy many powerful people on Kauai and in the state of Hawaii.

John Kauai said...

1:30, what book is that?
Not that I'll buy it. I'm still trying to read other books. I don't know when reading books became such a chore. It used to be so much fun.

Anonymous said...

Anyone can find the dirt in someone,
Be the one who finds the gold.

Anonymous said...

To 9:30 PM:
Not if there's no dirt to find!

And it's hard to find the gold when there's none.

Anonymous said...

What is Kauai's main industry??

And where does it go??

Ever heard of a metal detector??

Precious metals/stones are not only found in dirt... They are also worn and lost too.

That tip should have cost you a $20 bill but I ain't greedy or needy.

Share the knowledge and teach a island how to fish instead of stealing county gas to fish.

Anonymous said...

Kauai's main industry is everyone trying to out bullshit the other. I was told that if the bull no shit the grass no grow. lol. Some people do not want the truth, or they can not handle the truth. Some people would rather believe in their own lies. Being right is one thing. Being right with no one to believe you is another thing. Go Kauai Go. Who do we believe?

Anonymous said...

You have the wrong Randy Ching. This is a Sierra Club activist, not CB co-founder.

Joan Conrow said...

Thanks. I've sent an email to the Sierra Club Randy Ching to confirm, and if he does, I'll correct the post.

Anonymous said...

Will you correct and apologize?

Joan Conrow said...

I did. Look at the post.