Editorials
Thursday, October 22, 1998THE seven years that have passed without a trial since the rape and murder of Dana Ireland seem like an eternity, but the void has been extended even further. Hawaii County prosecutors have canceled the Nov. 2 trial for brothers Shawn and Albert Ian Schweitzer and withdrawn murder and rape charges against them. Although charges may be refiled, the Ireland family and the public are left wondering what "new, unforeseen developments" cited by the prosecution could have led to such a decision. Dana Ireland case has
dragged on too longThe Christmas Eve 1991 slaying of the 23-year-old graduate of George Mason University in Virginia while visiting Hawaii with her parents stunned the state with its brutality and the ineptness of Big Island authorities in responding. The delay by paramedics in arriving at the scene in a remote area was an omen for the sluggishness in bringing the accused to justice.
A major breakthrough seemed to occur three years after the murder, when Frank Pauline Jr., imprisoned for robbery and rape convictions, accused the Schweitzer brothers of the Ireland slaying, saying he was with them. Pauline, who has since recanted, is scheduled for trial in March on charges of raping and murdering Ireland.
Nearly three more years passed before prosecutors obtained a grand jury indictment of the Schweitzers in October 1997. The withdrawal of their charges this week was accompanied by reports that authorities had been unable to recover usable DNA evidence to be cited in the case. Physical evidence that can be used to identify a perpetrator is critical in a case involving no eyewitnesses who are willing to testify.
Pauline's admission may enable prosecutors to overcome that obstacle in his upcoming trial. However, they must decide whether the modicum of physical evidence on the identity of Ireland's killers warrants allowing Pauline -- his credibility problems notwithstanding -- to instead turn state's evidence against the Schweitzers.
Hopefully, that decision will be made sooner rather than later -- and there will be no further delays caused by changes in the defense attorneys or other complications. This case has dragged on much too long.
BENJAMIN Franklin Dillingham, who died Monday in California at age 82, was a kamaaina businessman and politician from the era of Republican domination in Hawaii. Once known as "Mr. Republican" here, he lost to Democrat Daniel Inouye in the 1962 U.S. senatorial election and made a final bid for elective office in 1974, running unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor on a ticket headed by Randolph Crossley. He had previously served on the Honolulu Board of Supervisors, the predecessor of the City Council, and in the territorial Senate as well as leader of the Hawaii Republican Party and as a member of the Republican National Committee. Benjamin Dillingham
Dillingham was a descendant of Hawaiian missionaries Lowell and Abigail Smith. His grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Dillingham, came to Hawaii as a seaman and founded Oahu Railway & Land Co. His father, Walter, founded Hawaiian Dredging Co., which became the Dillingham Corp., one of Hawaii's largest companies, with large-scale construction projects in Hawaii, the Pacific and Asia and on the U.S. mainland. Walter Dillingham played a key role in building the city as we know it -- from Pearl Harbor to Honolulu Airport to Honolulu harbor to Ala Moana Shopping Center and the Ala Wai Canal.
Ben Dillingham was a lieutenant colonel in the Army during World War II and was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service. He was general manager of OR&L and senior vice president of Dillingham Corp. until his retirement in 1970 but served on the board of directors until the company was sold in 1983.
He moved to Australia in 1967 to be managing director of Dillingham Corp. of Australia, with headquarters in Sydney. He had lived about 10 years in Yuba City, Calif.
Ben Dillingham's political career was cut short by the Democratic tide that engulfed Hawaii starting in 1954. Nevertheless, the Dillingham family earned a prominent place in Hawaii's history.
PROGRESS in Waikiki: The Harris administration's plan to widen Kuhio Beach and the pedestrian promenade by narrowing Kalakaua Avenue by one lane has been approved by the City Council's Zoning Committee. The administration was given a shoreline management area use permit, the last of the required approvals. Kuhio Beach plan
Randy Fujiki, the city's design and construction director, said the $13.5 million plan would add one-third of an acre of beach in the most crowded area of Waikiki, plus an acre of landscaping and three times the current number of coconut palms. A larger police substation and water fountains would be built.
To make room for these improvements, the makai lane of Kalakaua would be closed, reducing the traffic lanes from four to three. A study by the Department of Transportation Services over six weeks found no adverse effects on traffic.
Conversion of Kalakaua into a pedestrian mall was rejected years ago as impractical, but there is a continuing need to make the avenue as attractive as possible to pedestrians. This is particularly true along Kuhio Beach, the only stretch of Kalakaua Ewa of Kapiolani Park that is not blocked off from the ocean by the hotels. It seems obvious that every effort should be made to improve this area for pedestrians.
Some Waikiki residents have opposed this project, complaining that their interests are being sacrificed for the sake of tourists. But the improvements will be available for the use of both residents and tourists, and the traffic congestion will not be significantly worse.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
