DENNIS ODA / 2017
Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro had stubbornly resisted the imperative to remove himself from his elective office after it became clear, months ago, that he was a target in a Justice Department criminal investigation.
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Even though we’d strongly urged it, and it’s surely the right thing to do, we take little pleasure in seeing things coming to this: city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro taking a necessary leave of absence. That’s because Kaneshiro stepping down on Thursday was spurred by a huge corruption scandal involving Oahu’s top law enforcers that has damaged the integrity of both the city Prosecutor’s Office and the Honolulu Police Department. The wide-reaching federal investigations also have snagged the city’s Corporation Counsel, the administration’s top civil attorney.
Kaneshiro had stubbornly resisted the imperative to remove himself from his elective office after it became clear, months ago, that he was a target in a Justice Department criminal investigation. His former deputy, Chasid Sapolu, stepped down after receiving a lower-level, but still serious, subject letter; Corporation Counsel Donna Leong also went on leave after getting a target letter.
These letters all seem to have emanated from a core of alleged corruption and abuse of power involving Louis and Katherine Kealoha — he, the embattled former Honolulu police chief; she, the one-time deputy prosecutor under Kaneshiro. Among the many sordid criminal charges: conspiring with officers then under his command in a mailbox theft, as well as bank and identity fraud.
Come what may from federal investigators, Kaneshiro had lost valuable standing, crucial to him doing his job. Both Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard and state Attorney General Clare Connors expressed concerns about Kaneshiro’s authority over cases while under the cloud of taint; in fact, it was Connors’ bold move to petition the Hawaii Supreme Court for Kaneshiro’s temporary but immediate removal that conveyed the severity of impact on interagency and legal operations.
Dwight Nadamoto is now the city’s acting prosecuting attorney. We wish him and hard-working others in that office well, as they regroup and move forward.
