Court won’t hear case
of title firm’s co-founder

By Rob Perez
Star-Bulletin

The Supreme Court today rejected a lawsuit brought by an Oahu man against President Clinton that claimed the 1850 treaty between the Hawaiian Kingdom and the United States was still in effect.

The justices did not cite a reason in denying to hear the case of David Keanu Sai, co-founder of Perfect Title Co., the controversial title-search firm under investigation by the state.

Sai had sued Clinton last year, asking the court to compel the president to honor the treaty. Sai alleged that the treaty still was in effect because the annexation of the Hawaiian islands by the United States was illegal. He couldn't be reached for comment this morning.

Even though he is not a lawyer and had no attorney representing him, Sai was able to get his case onto the Supreme Court docket by citing a rarely used rule involving "original jurisdiction."

Because he claimed he was a foreign ambassador representing the kingdom, he succeeded in getting the court to consider his case, not in its typical capacity as the nation's highest appeals court, but as a trial one. That meant the lawsuit could be filed directly with the Supreme Court and didn't have to go through an appeals process.

But legal experts said they doubted the justices would hear the case. Experts said the court likely would throw the case out for legal or technical reasons.

A court spokesman said the justices usually don't give reasons when denying to hear cases.

Perfect Title has claimed that existing land titles in Hawaii are invalid by citing 18th century kingdom law. Critics accused the company of running a scam, and authorities last year charg-ed Sai and co-founder Donald Lewis with attempted theft in relation to one of their cases.

The trial is scheduled for later this year.