Hawaii News Now has learned that a fourth special prosecutor from California has been
added to the team investigating alleged misconduct by people at Hawaii's highest levels of
law enforcement.

Katherine Kealoha, formerly a high-ranking deputy prosecutor and the former police chief's
wife, is already a target of the FBI case.

And now it appears her boss, city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, has also joined the list of
those under scrutiny.

The new line of investigation centers around a speeding ticket that Kealoha got dismissed
for her electrician — and what the prosecutor and his office did in the months after ticket
fixing allegations surfaced to justify the citation being thrown out by the court.

A ticket fixing scandal grows

Kealoha's electrician got the ticket on Aug. 12, 2014. He told Hawaii News Now he was
driving 78 mph in a 35 mph zone on the Likelike Highway.

And he said Kealoha told him that she would take care of the citation for him.

Weeks later, she did — by showing up at his traffic court hearing.

"Good morning, your honor. Deputy prosecuting Attorney Katherine Kealoha for the state,"
Kealoha can be heard telling the judge, in audio recordings of the hearing obtained by
Hawaii News Now. She subsequently asks that the court dismiss the ticket, saying, "I know
this is a speeding offense, but the individual who is driving the car at the time is a career
criminal who was not the individual that he gave the identification for."

In other words, she claimed to the court that her electrician wasn't really driving; it was
someone who stole his identity, she said. By early 2015, the FBI started investigating that
apparent lie to a state judge by a sitting deputy prosecutor.

Shortly afterward, Kaneshiro — her boss — started getting called in to testify before a
federal grand jury in the case. He was being asked to provide evidence regarding that
speeding ticket.

But in an unusual move, Kaneshiro wasn't cooperative.

Did anybody watch it?  I just saw this thread this morning so missed it.

I mean, Mrs. Kealoha could have just asked the judge to dismiss on the basis of a "warning".  Happens all the time, you don't have to claim someone else was driving or make up a lie.

I mean, Mrs. Kealoha could have just asked the judge to dismiss on the basis of a "warning".  Happens all the time, you don't have to claim someone else was driving or make up a lie.

The Hawaii Excessive Speeding statute states that:

    No person shall drive a motor vehicle at a speed exceeding:
        The applicable state or county speed limit by thirty miles per hour or more; or
        Eighty miles per hour or more irrespective of the applicable state or county speed limit.
    For the purposes of this section, “the applicable state or county speed limit” means:
        The maximum speed limit established by county ordinance;
        The maximum speed limit established by official signs placed by the director of transportation on highways under the director’s jurisdiction; or
        The maximum speed limit established pursuant to section 291C-104 by the director of transportation or the counties for school zones and construction areas in their respective jurisdictions.

    Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be sentenced as follows without the possibility of probation or suspension of sentence:
        For a first offense not preceded by a prior conviction for an offense under this section in the preceding five years:
            A fine of not less than $500 and not more than $1,000;
            Thirty-day prompt suspension of license and privilege to operate a vehicle during the suspension period, or the court may impose, in lieu of the thirty-day prompt suspension of license, a minimum fifteen-day prompt suspension of license with absolute prohibition from operating a vehicle and, for the remainder of the thirty-day period, a restriction on the license that allows the person to drive for limited work-related purposes;
            Attendance in a course of instruction in driver retraining;
            A surcharge of $25 to be deposited into the neurotrauma special fund;
            May be charged a surcharge of up to $100 to be deposited into the trauma system special fund if the court so orders;
            An assessment for driver education pursuant to section 286G-3; and
            Either one of the following:
                Thirty-six hours of community service work; or
                Not less than forty-eight hours and not more than five days of imprisonment.

The penalties for Excessive Speeding increase for second and third offenses. As the statute indicates, the penalties for Excessive Speeding are unusually high, even for a first offense. These penalties are also mandatory, which means that even if this is the first ticket you ever received in your life, the judge will have no choice but to sentence you to the aforementioned penalties if you are convicted of Excessive Speeding.

In addition to the criminal penalties, being convicted of Excessive Speeding will require you to obtain SR-22 auto insurance (high-risk insurance).

As previously mentioned, many Excessive Speeding cases can be defended on legal grounds and you should contact an attorney for a consultation.

The full report is now on the news website.  Something that's small and probably done many times before blows up and gets a lot of people in trouble.  I understand that telling a fib is something that almost everyone does to cover for their employees, friends and family.  On the other hand, do something small now and you could do something bigger later leading to corruption and waste.

In other words, she claimed to the court that her electrician wasn't really driving; it was
someone who stole his identity, she said. By early 2015, the FBI started investigating that
apparent lie to a state judge by a sitting deputy prosecutor.

Shortly afterward, Kaneshiro — her boss — started getting called in to testify before a
federal grand jury in the case. He was being asked to provide evidence regarding that
speeding ticket.

But in an unusual move, Kaneshiro wasn't cooperative.

The full report is now on the news website.  Something that's small and probably done many times before blows up and gets a lot of people in trouble.  I understand that telling a fib is something that almost everyone does to cover for their employees, friends and family.  On the other hand, do something small now and you could do something bigger later leading to corruption and waste.

Indeed. "Ticket fixing" can occur at so many levels. A cop could tell another cop to not turn in the ticket they issued, the clerk could could intercept it, the prosecutor could try to keep it off the court record, etc. I don't know whether this would be considered ticket fixing as well or just a lawyer lying to the judge.

I think the problem is that since it can occur at any step of the process and the act itself, although a felony, doesn't seem that bad makes it at least not rare. Now for the corruption aspect I think it is one of those things where if a boss asked for it or you know a coworker did it then it runs into the dilemma of whether or not to report it. Do you report it so it stops, knowing that you will be labeled a snitch, or do you look the other way and speak up when you see something worse? I can get how Kaneshiro might have at the very least known it happens and not done anything, though as the boss he could have certainly taken some level of action. For the feds, knowing a crime occurred and not reporting it is in and of itself a crime I believe. So if you had, for example, an honest cop wanting to help straighten out the system, do you report everything you see or do you go along so you can get the bigger fish?

A high-ranking Deputy Prosecutor represented her electrician AGAINST THE STATE SHE WORKED FOR.  Her office keeps score based on convictions.  Her actions went against the goals of the prosecutor's office. 

There is no way her boss was unaware of what she did unless she hid it from him.  She would have also had to tell him WHY she felt compelled to help her electrician.  I doubt the ID theft defense made sense to her boss.  That would be an indictment on his experience as a prosecutor.

A reasonable person could see right through the lie, but I'm sure a judge would give added weight to it if a Deputy Prosecutor is representing the defendant.  That's got to be an unusual situation.

Agreed, though it isn't beyond the realm of possibility for someone to claim ID theft and have that work as a defense. Say someone stole your ID and let the state prove that in fact you were the driver. Unless the cop remembers the person's face (hard to do many months later?) how does the prosecutor prove the individual is the same who was driving that day? A more common one would be where someone gives their sibling's information. Since it is innocent until proven guilty, it is not the job of the accused to prove they are innocent.

It's one thing to CLAIM ID theft.  It's another to actually have proof. 

Your scenario of having the Cop ID the driver doesn't hold water.  For that to happen, the ID Thief would also have to be driving around in the electrician's vehicle at the time it was stopped.  If so, there would be proof the car was either reported stolen, or the ID thief somehow had permission to drive the owner's car.

If the vehicle was the driver's, that should have been recorded on the ticket. 

If the car was reported stolen, then it wouldn't matter who was driving it.  The police report would be enough to establish doubt that the electrician was driving.  The ID issue could be explained by the electrician leaving his ID in his car.  Why make up a separate ID theft story if the car was not in the owner's possession?

Nope.  Not in the realm of possibility.  Too many things have to all be happening at the same time, and there would be proof.

As for proving you are innocent, if the prosecutor has your license #, Tag # and signature on a citation, you have no choice but to try and mount a defense.  If you can't prove you are innocent, then you will lose.

If the sibling theory was correct, then the electrician is an idiot for taking the rap for 78 in a 35!  The sibling deserves to suffer the consequences for putting public safety at risk driving like that, and the electrician would be enabling him to go out and do that again.  I don't know of many brothers who would take a criminal traffic conviction, pay all the fines, serve all the sentence, live with a suspended license and then pay a huge increase in auto insurance.

In the sibling scenario, no one would end up being convicted. If you gave your brother's info then your brother would be the one in court. He could say it was actually you but the court isn't going to then bring you into court based on that defense just to try you for the citation as well because you of course could say it wasn't you. Then unless the officer can remember a face the case is dropped. I am not saying it is a perfect defense but I am saying it has been successful.

As for the electrician's specific case, I agree it is more difficult a defense if the car wasn't reported stolen. It is possible a worker was using the car and gave his info though. I don't know all the details of the case so I am only speculating on how a plausible defense argument could have been crafted. Then you have to ask whether the court would just accept the prosecutor's recommendation or demand a trail and further investigation for something that would ultimately be a misdemeanor. I agree that it wasn't the best option they could have taken but it isn't as far fetched as it sounds.

In Hawaii, it is a felony to knowingly or intentionally possess, without proper authorization, another person’s confidential
personal information in any form, including but not limited to physical documents, mail, identification cards, or information
stored in digital form.

This identity theft crime is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.

(Haw. Rev. Stat. §708-839.55)