The key government witness against Honolulu police Maj. Carlton Nishimura told her lawyer that she lied to the grand jury that charged Nishimura with extortion to get a break at her drug sentencing, Nishimura’s lawyer says in federal court documents.
Nishimura, 55, is facing federal charges that he extorted money from the operator of an illegal gambling house in 2004, 2005 and 2006, lied to the FBI and tried to persuade the witness to lie.
The witness, identified in the indictment as D.I., an uncharged co-conspirator, is Doni Mei Imose, also known as Doni Crisolo, according to the attorneys in the case.
In July 2009 Imose, then 38, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and other charges for her role in a methamphetamine trafficking ring that imported the drug from California and distributed it on Oahu and Hawaii island. One of the other members of the ring was an elementary school special-education teacher in Hilo.
The conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum 10-year prison term.
Imose was originally scheduled to face sentencing in November 2009. At the request of Imose and the prosecutor, the court has rescheduled the sentencing hearing 12 times, the latest being later this month. However, the hearing will likely get moved back again to after Nishimura’s trial, which is scheduled for January.
The grand jury that charged Nishimura returned its indictment last February.
In May, Imose’s lawyer at the time, Pamela Tamashiro, asked the court for a status conference and permission to file documents in the case under seal.
The court denied Tamashiro’s request for a status conference but granted her request to file the documents under seal.
The day after filing the documents, Tamashiro withdrew as Imose’s lawyer. She now works for the Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.
Later in May the court granted a request from Imose’s new lawyer, William Harrison, for access to the sealed documents.
Nishimura’s lawyer, Federal Public Defender Peter Wolff Jr., says he believes the Tamashiro documents will confirm his belief that Imose told Tamashiro she committed perjury in front of the grand jury, that same day or within days after testifying.
Wolff said Tamashiro sought advice from the state Judiciary’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel before she filed the documents and withdrew as Imose’s lawyer.
Wolff is asking the court for access to the documents Tamashiro filed under seal, a transcript of Imose’s grand jury testimony, law enforcement reports of interviews with Imose and documents the government filed last December asking the court to give Imose a penalty below what is recommended by federal court sentencing guidelines.
Wolff said that based on his investigation, documents he has received from the prosecutor and the indictment, he believes Imose told the grand jury she received money from her ex-husband, a gambling house operator, to pay Nishimura in exchange for information on police gambling raids. Wolff said he believes Imose later said she used the money to buy drugs and that Nishimura is innocent. The ex-husband is not named in the indictment and is not facing any charges.
In correspondence between Wolff and federal prosecutor Thomas Muehleck, Muehleck said the government is not aware of any statement by Imose admitting to perjury. And even if she did make such a statement, it is false, Muehleck said.
In a letter to Wolff from Muehleck’s boss, U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni said that when the government asked Imose about the situation, Imose invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination and refused to answer.
