Questions over Circuit Judge Todd Eddins’ handling of a plea agreement in a child sex abuse case dominated his nomination to the Hawaii Supreme Court on Monday.
Eddins received unanimous support in written testimony to the state Senate Judiciary Committee, one of a series of scheduled hearings this week over his nomination to the islands’ highest court.
But Maria Roth-Tijerna testified via video to the committee Monday that Eddins never should have agreed to a plea agreement of probation and a fine for the man accused of repeatedly molesting her then-5-year-old daughter in Waikiki.
Roth-Tijerna said the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office forced her into agreeing to the terms of Todd Bruggman’s plea in 2019.
In a nearly three-hour hearing, Eddins was asked about a series of legal issues. But his initial confirmation hearing was dominated by questions about his handling of the plea agreement from state senators, including some who are criminal and civil attorneys.
Under questioning on whether Eddins had confirmed that Roth-Tijerna agreed to the agreement, Eddins said it is inappropriate for him to deal directly with potential witnesses before a trial and that he had no reason to question the agreement.
Newly elected state Sen. Joy San Buenaventura, a Hawaii island attorney, asked Eddins whether he had any indication that Roth-Tijerna had been “brow-beaten” into agreeing to the plea agreement, as the mother had indicated at the start of the hearing.
Eddins said simply, “No.”
Eddins said the plea agreement bound him to follow it and that the deputy prosecutor prosecuting Bruggman was a “seasoned” professional “that has done fine work in my courtroom. I had no reason to distrust her representations.”
“There was clear-cut indication that the mother consented to a plea agreement,” Eddins said.
Two counts against Bruggman were dismissed in 2019 and he later pled no contest to a felony count and a misdemeanor count.
The following month, Hawaii News Now interviewed Roth-Tijerna — then known as Maria Tijerna — who complained about Bruggman’s sentence.
HNN reported at the time that Roth-Tijerna admitted that she agreed to the plea deal but said she was misled and even changed her mind. She also claimed that prosecutors told her it was too late to rescind the agreement, according to HNN.
A jury had been empaneled in Bruggman’s case and his trial had started in February 2019 when Eddins was informed that a plea agreement had been reached.
Roth-Tijerna filed a temporary restraining order against Bruggman in 2015 and has sued him in Circuit Court, according to court records. A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for later this month.
Correction: An earlier version of this story has been updated to clarify sexual assault defendant Todd Bruggman’s plea and that his trial had begun when a plea agreement was reached.
