It appears no Big Island judge will hear the pending theft trial of Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi.
Court records indicate certificates of recusal were filed Thursday by Hilo Circuit judges Greg Nakamura and Glenn Hara, 3rd Circuit Chief Judge Ronald Ibarra, Kona Circuit Judge Melvin Fujino, Hilo Family judges Lloyd Van De Car and Henry Nakamoto, Hilo District Judge Harry Freitas and Kona District Judge Margaret Masunaga.
Hilo District Judge Barbara Takase is retiring April 29, so she won’t be presiding over the case, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 18.
That leaves vacationing Kona Family Judge Aley Auna Jr. as the only full-time Big Island judge available to hear the case. A clerk for Ibarra said Friday afternoon Auna is expected to disqualify himself when he returns Tuesday.
Asked why the judges recused themselves from hearing the case, Ibarra replied, “It’s an individual thing under the (judicial) rules of conduct.”
“Their impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” the judge said, paraphrasing from the code. “I don’t know why and I’m not going to go into individual beliefs (or) contact (with the mayor).”
If Auna also recuses himself from hearing Kenoi’s case, Ibarra said, “The (state) chief justice (Mark Recktenwald) would appoint a judge from another circuit.”
If he doesn’t, Ibarra said, Kenoi’s attorneys could ask Auna to disqualify himself. If that were to occur and the judge refused, Kenoi’s attorneys could then file a writ of mandamus with the state Supreme Court seeking the judge’s removal from the case.
Nakamura arraigned Kenoi on Wednesday, when the county’s chief executive pleaded not guilty to two counts each of second- and third-degree theft, three counts of tampering with public records, and a single count of making a false statement under oath.
Although he didn’t explicitly say so, Nakamura hinted he would be recusing himself, telling Kenoi, “I’m not going to be the presiding judge. We have not yet identified the assigned trial judge.”
Kenoi was indicted March 23 on eight criminal offenses by a Hilo grand jury.
The charges follow a yearlong probe by the state attorney general’s office into Kenoi’s use of a county credit card known as a purchasing card, or pCard. The investigation started after Big Island newspapers reported Kenoi used his pCard to pay an $892 tab at a Honolulu hostess bar.
Other personal items charged were a surfboard, bicycle, campaign expenses and bar association fees.
In total, the mayor made 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 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.
Todd Eddins, one of Kenoi’s attorneys, said he had “no comment at this time.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
