Jury selection was scheduled to continue in state court Thursday for the civil trial involving Katherine Kealoha, wife of Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha.

Katherine Kealoha is also a deputy city prosecutor.

Her uncle, Gerald Puana, and 95-year-old grandmother, Florence Puana, are suing her over nearly $150,000 left over from a reverse mortgage Kealoha arranged on her grandmother’s Maunalani Heights home and $70,000 Gerald Puana claims he gave his niece for safekeeping and to put into an investment hui.

Kealoha countersued, denying that she stole any of her uncle’s or grandmother’s money. Kealoha claims that her uncle and grandmother conspired together to falsely accuse her of stealing their money to discredit her.

Jury selection started Wednesday.

Kealoha’s lawyers continue to assert that Gerald Puana stole Kealoha’s mailbox even after a federal judge dismissed the criminal case against the uncle.

In pretrial motions for the state civil case on Monday, Kealoha’s lawyer, Kevin Sumida, said the Kealohas’ mailbox was locked and that Puana claims to have put money in the mailbox and knew that it was locked.

"I should be allowed to show that he stole the mailbox," Sumida argued.

Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall ruled that Kealoha’s lawyers cannot tell jurors about the mailbox incident. She said the theft is not relevant because it happened months after the uncle and grandmother had filed their lawsuit. Crandall also said mentioning the incident would unfairly prejudice jurors against Puana and would create confusion of the issues.

Puana went to trial in U.S. District Court last month on charges of destroying a mailbox. His niece told U.S. Postal Inspection Service officials that the person who appears on surveillance video tearing the mailbox off its support post and driving off with it in June 2013 is her uncle.

Federal prosecutors accused Puana of stealing the mailbox to retrieve bank records related to the state civil case.

In opening statements, Puana’s lawyer, First Assistant Federal Defender Alexander Silvert, told jurors the person in the video is not Puana. He said Kealoha said the person in the video is Puana to discredit him in the state civil case.

Police Chief Kealoha, who was the government’s second witness, caused a mistrial when he told the jurors that Puana had been charged and convicted of breaking into a neighbor’s house.

Silvert accused Chief Kealoha of intentionally causing the mistrial to prevent a possible not guilty verdict from negatively affecting his wife’s state civil case. He also accused the Honolulu Police Department of misconduct in its handling of the mailbox case investigation and that there was "false and manufactured evidence."

The U.S. attorney’s office had the case against Puana dismissed after Silvert said he met with prosecutors and presented the defense’s entire case. The U.S. attorney also referred the case to the FBI.

Crandall is allowing Kealoha’s lawyers in the civil trial to tell jurors about the incident involving Puana and his neighbor.

Honolulu police arrested Puana in June 2011 for unauthorized entry into a dwelling for walking into a neighbor’s home and yelling at the neighbor to tell someone about moving a car. Puana pleaded no contest and a state judge sentenced him to probation.

The judge later withdrew the conviction and granted Puana a deferral of his plea.

Crandall ruled on Monday that Kealoha’s lawyers can tell jurors Puana was arrested and spent time in custody and residential drug treatment following his arrest, as well as how much bail he posted. They cannot, however, tell the jurors the specifics of the offense or refer to the incident as a home invasion.

If jury selection wraps up soon, the trial will begin before another state judge can decide whether someone else should stand in for Kealoha’s grandmother.

Kealoha filed a petition last month asking the state Probate Court to appoint a conservator for her grandmother. She claims that her grandmother is impaired and unable to manage her property and business affairs effectively. Kealoha is asking the court to appoint someone other than her uncle to represent her grandmother in the civil case. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 22.