Molokai Ranch
moves to have opposing
attorney disqualified

His journalist wife had access
to confidential information, they say

By Ian Lind
Star-Bulletin

A public relations company and attorneys representing Molokai Ranch have leveled conflict-of-interest charges against a free-lance journalist and her husband, an attorney for opponents of luxury vacation camps planned by the ranch.

The journalist, Naomi Sodetani, was told by the Honolulu Weekly newspaper to stop working on a story about the Great Molokai Ranch Trail after strong protests from Becker Communications, the public relations consultant for the ranch.

Ranch attorneys are also trying to disqualify Sodetani's husband, Alan Murakami, from further representing Pono, the group opposing the plan for nearly 300 overnight rental units in a series of camps spread across 53,000 acres.

In court documents, ranch attorneys allege Sodetani acted "in the guise of journalism" to conduct "surreptitious and illegal" research and to obtain confidential information that her husband could then use against the ranch.

The ranch claims Murakami should be treated as if his wife were an attorney for the ranch with access to confidential insider information, although no evidence is presented that Sodetani sought or could have obtained such information.

Murakami said the charges are a fantasy based on "supposition and suspicion," and he will ask the judge to fine the ranch for introducing a frivolous motion.

Sodetani said the charges reflect "a particularly despicable kind of censorship. I think they are trying to intimidate potentially critical press coverage."

A hearing on the move to disqualify Murakami is scheduled for Tuesday in the Maui courtroom of Circuit Judge E. John McConnell.

Sodetani, who has written and made videos about native Hawaiian rights and development issues, seemed a natural for the job when she was given the Molokai assignment by Honolulu Weekly Managing Editor Elizabeth Kieszkowski.

Kieszkowski and Sodetani discussed the possible conflict and agreed that it would be prominently disclosed in the story so that readers could make up their own minds whether it was biased.

"When questions are raised, you ask yourself, 'Do you trust the person?' I trust Naomi. I think she's a good journalist," Kieszkowski said.

Then on June 25, ranch officials obtained an electronic message Sodetani had sent over the Internet earlier that day. Sodetani's message recounted a run-in with Ruth Ann Becker, owner of Becker Communications, during the 1992 eviction of a group of Maunawili residents to make way for a golf course.

Sodetani, who was making a video about the eviction, was thrown off the property after Becker, representing the golf course developers, decided "independent media" would not be allowed to remain with reporters from Honolulu's major newspapers and television stations while the evictions were carried out.

The ranch received a copy of the e-mail by fax from an unknown source, Becker told the Star-Bulletin.

Becker complained to Kieszkowski, saying the e-mail message reflected Sodetani's "personal bias" against her.

When Sodetani then disclosed her relation to Murakami, Becker demanded the Honolulu Weekly pull her off the story.

"The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics states clearly that journalists should avoid all conflicts of interest, real or perceived," Becker said in a fax to Kieszkowski. "This is a serious breach of that code, and one we do not take lightly."

Becker also told Kieszkowski that legal issues were being reviewed by attorneys for the ranch.

"There's no way she could be objective," Becker said later. "The situation creates a huge conflict that flies in the face of the SPJ code of ethics."

Kieszkowski finally agreed that Sodetani would not continue working on the story.

"I don't think it's censorship," Kieszkowski said later.

"They (Becker's company) are just being extremely aggressive and using every tool at their disposal, but it does seem like overkill by Hawaii standards."