The first Hawaii trial in decades involving accusations of corruption by high-ranking public officials began Wednesday with retired Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his former deputy prosecutor wife Katherine Kealoha hoping to convince the jury they did not fake the theft of their mailbox as part of a family fight over money.
The five defendants — including the Kealohas and three former and current Honolulu police officers — are accused of staging the theft of the mailbox, framing Katherine Kealoha’s uncle for the federal crime and lying to investigators about what they did. At the time of the mailbox theft, the uncle was accusing Katherine Kealoha of stealing money from him and his mother. Prosecutors say the Kealohas blamed the mailbox theft on the uncle to discredit him.
None of the defendants in the federal conspiracy trial are providing alternate theories of who stole the mailbox. Instead they are arguing that the prosecutors can’t prove it was the Kealohas.
Cynthia Kagiwada, Katherine Kealoha’s court-appointed lawyer, told the jury in her opening statement that the burden is on the government to prove that there was an agreement to frame Katherine Kealoha’s uncle for the theft of her mailbox and that Katherine Kealoha was part of the agreement.
Rustam Barbee, Louis Kealoha’s court-appointed lawyer, said in his opening statement that when the former police chief identified his wife’s uncle under oath as the person recorded on a surveillance video taking the mailbox, he just did what he was asked to do, “he gave his opinion.”
This is the first Hawaii trial in decades involving accusations of corruption by high-ranking public officials. At the time of the alleged staged mailbox theft and cover-up, Louis Kealoha was still the police chief and Katherine Kealoha was still a supervisor in the Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.
Lt. Derek Wayne Hahn and officer Minh-Hung “Bobby” Nguyen were assigned to the Honolulu Police Department’s elite Criminal Intelligence Unit and retired Maj. Gordon Shiraishi was their commander.
Special prosecutor Michael Wheat told the jury the CIU was a “secret police force” whose members were hand-picked by Louis Kealoha.
The trial is also one of the most anticipated in recent history because of a nearly two-year FBI and federal grand jury investigation, which resulted in indictment of the five defendants, and the steady release of details about the case by the government in the 18 months since the indictment.
Wheat said in his opening statement that the case is about “the abuse of position, abuse of trust and greed.” He told the jury that the defendants used their positions to frame Gerard Puana, the uncle, for mailbox theft to discredit him in his civil lawsuit against Katherine Kealoha. Puana and Katherine Kealoha’s grandmother Florence Puana were suing Katherine Kealoha over money Gerard Puana gave his niece to invest in a hui and some of the proceeds of a reverse mortgage on the grandmother’s home.
Kagiwada called the financial dispute, “A complete misunderstanding among family members over money” and said the government’s case is “complicated, convoluted and complex.”
Barbee said the government relies on “circumstantial evidence that will require a leap of faith” to other circumstantial evidence.
Hahn’s lawyer Birney Bervar told the jury that his client didn’t even know Gerard Puana and that, “There is no evidence he had anything to do with the theft of the mailbox.”
Nguyen’s lawyer Randall Hironaka told the jury that his client was basically a “gofer” in CIU who wasn’t even in the chain of command. He said whatever actions Nguyen took were under orders and as part of his duties.
Shiraishi’s lawyer Lars Isaacson told the jury that his client is accused of being part of the conspiracy because he misstated the times when he had conversations about the mailbox with Louis Kealoha and Hahn .
Shiraishi is charged with lying once to a city Ethics Commission investigator, twice to the FBI and once to the federal grand jury.
Isaacson also said, “My guy is not the guy in the video.”
The government showed the video of the mailbox theft to jurors but Wheat did not tell them if the government can identify the person in the video.
The mailbox theft was initially investigated by Honolulu police. U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector Brian Shaughnessy testified Wednesday that he recommended to a federal prosecutor to decline what he described as a “loser” case but that the U.S. Attorney decided to take it anyway.
Gerard Puana went on trial for mailbox theft in U.S. District Court in December 2014. The judge declared a mistrial on the first day of evidence when Louis Kealoha presented improper testimony to the jury.
Wheat told the jury the former police chief “torpedoed” the prosecution.
The U.S. Attorney dismissed the case, and the investigation that resulted in the indictment against the defendants followed.
