A lawyer for Mayor Billy Kenoi said his client will not be seeking a plea deal.
“This case will go to trial,” Todd Eddins said Wednesday after Kenoi pleaded not guilty to eight charges connected to his alleged misuse of a county credit card, known as a purchasing card or pCard.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura ordered Kenoi to appear for trial at 9 a.m. July 18.
“It’s likely to be in this courtroom, although I’m not going to be the presiding judge,” Nakamura told Kenoi. “We have not yet identified the assigned trial judge.”
It’s unclear whether the judge recused himself from hearing the case. A Wednesday afternoon call to Nakamura’s chambers was not returned by press time.
Nakamura gave Kenoi, who is free on his own recognizance, permission to travel while his court case is pending.
Kenoi was accompanied to court by his wife, Takako. He appeared in good spirits, telling a videographer, “Make sure you get my good side.”
The 47-year-old mayor also slapped hands with two deputy sheriffs as he left the courtroom after his arraignment. Kenoi departed immediately afterward without answering questions, referring the media to Eddins and co-counsel Richard Sing.
The charges follow a year-long investigation by the state attorney general’s office into Kenoi’s use of his pCard. The investigation started after Big Island newspapers reported Kenoi used his pCard to pay an $892 tab at Club Evergreen, a Honolulu hostess bar.
In total, the mayor tallied almost $130,000 in charges on the card between January 2009 and March 2015.
Kenoi reimbursed the county for $22,292 in personal charges between those dates. He later paid back approximately $9,500 more after the newspapers published their stories examining his pCard use.
The most serious offenses, two counts of second-degree theft, are Class C felonies that each carry a possible five-year prison term and $10,000 fine upon conviction. The other charges are misdemeanors and petty misdemeanors.
“It’s an overreach to call him a thief, and it’s fighting words,” Eddins said. “And Mayor Kenoi is going to fight these flimsy allegations all the way.”
Eddins called Honolulu media reports that Kenoi turned down a possible plea deal before his March 23 indictment by a Hilo grand jury “false information.”
“There have been numerous leaks from the attorney general’s office, and we don’t comment on leaks from the attorney general’s office,” he said.
Criminal cases seldom go to trial on the first set date. Eddins said it’s “hard to say at this point” whether Kenoi’s case will go to trial while he is still mayor.
“I think once we review the grand jury proceedings (and) the discovery materials — which are fairly extensive, as far as my understanding — we’ll be able to make a better call on that,” Eddins said.
Kenoi is serving his second term as the county’s chief executive and cannot run again. A new mayor will take office in December.
Deputy Attorney General Kevin Takata, who is prosecuting the case, declined to comment after the hearing.
Tribune-Herald reporter Tom Callis contributed to this story.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
