Newswatch
Thirteen of the 25 settlements for claims and lawsuits involved the Police Department and cost the city $734,000.
The highest settlement was $230,000, paid to David Fasi, son of former Mayor Frank Fasi, who was injured when his bicycle was hit by a police car in Waikiki.
There were also two wrongful death cases in traffic accidents involving a city traffic signal ($225,000) and a police car ($125,000).
City Corporation Counsel Darolyn Lendio said the 1996 tally so far is not bad considering that the Council budgets $5 million annually toward settlements and judgments.
"If you look at the analysis, I would say, on its face, that we're doing very well," Lendio said.
Bryan Kaluna, 43, yesterday became the first Hawaii resident to be sentenced under the "three strikes and you're out" provision of the federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
Federal Public Defender Alexander Silvert said Kaluna is only the third person nationally to be serving life without parole under the provision.
"It's a very poorly written law. It was a very poorly thought-out law. And as far as I'm concerned, it was a law passed to have politicians elected," Silvert said.
He said he'll appeal the sentence to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and expects it will reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The victim, tentatively identified as a 29-year-old man, was taken to Queen's Hospital shortly after a security guard discovered him about 7:55 p.m. He died at the hospital of multiple stab wounds.
The suspect apparently was waiting outside the home at 421 Launiu St. when officers arrived. He appeared to be intoxicated, said acting homicide Lt. Anderson Hee.
The man was booked for second-degree murder and three counts of terroristic threatening.
Hee said police recovered a knife but were still looking for another sharp instrument.
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- Man with semiautomatic robs Waikiki restaurant
- Gang-murder suspect arrested carrying a gun