Lindsey gets
a chance to tell
her side of case

While the trial has gone on
for two months, her first
testimony was scheduled today

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsey was to take the stand this morning in the trial seeking her removal from the multibillion dollar charitable trust's board.

For the first time in the 2-month-old trial, Lindsey will answer questions about her role in the controversy that has rocked the Kapalama Heights campus for the past two years. She is expected to be testifying for at least three days.

Estate trustees Gerard Jervis and Oswald Stender are seeking Lindsey's removal on the grounds that she breached her fiduciary duties, intimidated students and teachers at the estate-run Kamehameha Schools, and is unfit to serve on the estate's five-member board.

Lindsey's attorneys have argued that she has been victimized by a campaign of rumor and innuendo for trying to improve educational programs at Kamehameha Schools. They say the rumor campaign was instigated in part by Stender after Lindsey asked the estate to probe Stender's unsuccessful bid to buy Maui Land & Pineapple Co. in 1995.

Michael Green, Lindsey's lawyer, has alleged that Stender engaged in self-dealing, saying that Stender attempted to buy Maui Pine at a time when the board was considering its own investment in the company.

Stender also used a former Bishop Estate employee to assess the deal and later repaid the estate, Green has said.

Jervis completed his testimony this morning, answering questions about the failed Maui Pine deal. According to Jervis, Stender attempted the deal only after the estate's board decided not to invest in Maui Pine.

Stender later asked the full board for permission to pursue an attempt to buy the land-rich, cash-poor company, Jervis said.

Jervis also noted that Lindsey did not request a probe of Stender's Maui Pine deal until 1997, two years after Stender's deal fell through and after the controversy over Lindsey's role at Kamehameha Schools had erupted.

In related court action, the presiding judge in Lindsey's trial ordered a March 29 hearing into possible sanctions against her attorney, Green.

Circuit Judge Bambi Weil yesterday ruled that Green must show why he should not be sanctioned for causing a 11/2-day delay last week in the removal trial.

Green last Tuesday asked to be excused from the trial after complaining of dizziness during his cross-examination of a witness.

He later faxed a note to Weil's office from his doctor that recommended that Green rest until Monday due to a stress-related inner-ear problem.

But Green participated in separate court proceedings before federal judges during the two days he was excused from the Lindsey removal trial, according to Weil's order.

Green also attended a New Year's Eve golf tournament with Gov. Ben Cayetano at the Turtle Bay Hilton resort.

Green has said that his federal court appearances last week involved simple sentencing and bail matters that required about half an hour of work.

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