Testimony in
Lindsey removal
proceeding ends
Closing arguments in the Bishop
trustee's case are set for April 1Trustee Jervis overdoses
Feds want Holt bail revoked
By Rick Daysog
Star-BulletinLawyers for Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsey have completed their defense in a trial that has included tens of thousands of documents and four months of testimony from more than 50 witnesses,
Circuit Judge Bambi Weil yesterday heard testimony from the final witness for the trial over Lindsey's removal and set an April 1 date for closing arguments.
Weil also gave lawyers until March 30 to file their proposed findings of facts, which will summarize what each side believes it has proved in the trial.
Weil is not expected to make a ruling for several weeks.
Bishop Estate trustees Oswald Stender and Gerard Jervis are seeking Lindsey's removal from her $800,000-a-year trustee position, alleging she breached her fiduciary duties, mismanaged the estate-run Kamehameha Schools and intimidated students and teachers.
Lindsey denied wrongdoing, saying she's been criticized unfairly for attempting to reform the Kapalama Heights campus. She blamed the controversy on a conspiracy hatched by Stender and Kamehameha Schools faculty members.
Yesterday, Lindsey left the courtroom, apparently relieved that the long trial was over. When asked to predict the outcome, Lindsey declined to speculate. "I have no idea," she said. "I've never been in court before."
Stender also had no comment as he left the courtroom with his attorneys.
The effects of the long trial were apparent yesterday as attorneys from both sides sparred with each other and their witnesses.
At one point, Stender lawyer Douglas Ing and Lindsey lawyer Joe Wolsztyniak got into a verbal dispute after Ing accused witness Phillip Rowley, a $300-an-hour vice president with Peterson Worldwide Consulting, of "weaseling" on the witness stand for failing to answer a question about Lindsey's directives.
Peterson Worldwide is the author of a June 1998 report that criticized school President Michael Chun's leadership and partly blamed him for the controversy.
Stender's lawyers have alleged that the Peterson report, which cost $540,000, was designed as a defense exhibit for Lindsey.
3rd witness
testifies before
Wong’s grand jury
He's employed by a company that
By Rick Daysog
worked on the estate trustee's home
Star-BulletinAn Oahu grand jury heard testimony yesterday about Bishop Estate Chairman Richard "Dickie" Wong's involvement in an alleged kickback scheme involving trust land.
The secret grand jury, convened at the request of Attorney General Margery Bronster, subpoenaed an employee from Armstrong Builders Ltd., Gary Herald, whose company conducted work on Wong's Kahala home.
Herald had no comment as he entered the grand jury room in state Circuit Court this morning. Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Goya also declined comment.
Previously, the grand jury heard testimony from Wong's secretary and his accountant.
The panel also questioned employees of Wong's brother-in-law, Jeffrey Stone.
The panel is looking into the $21.9 million sale of the estate's fee interest in the Kalele Kai condominium complex in 1995 to a partnership involving Stone.
Bronster said she believes the estate gave Stone and his mainland partners a "sweetheart" deal for the Hawaii Kai lease-to-fee conversion.
In return, Stone and a business partner paid inflated prices for Makiki condominiums owned by Wong and fellow trustee Henry Peters, Bronster has said. Stone also sold a Kahala home to Wong.
A separate grand jury indicted Peters for theft last November.
Wong, Stone and Peters have denied wrongdoing, saying the Kalele Kai deal benefited the trust. Wong, who was questioned by a separate grand jury about the Kalele Kai deal last November, said he recused himself from all negotiations involving the Kalele Kai transaction.
Trustee Jervis overdoses
Feds want Holt bail revoked
Bishop Estate Archive
