Removal trial
of two trustees
starts Monday

After the long wait the trial
may last five weeks

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

The trial over the interim removal of two Bishop Estate trustees, scheduled to begin Monday, will likely last five weeks.

Yesterday, lawyers from the attorney general's office and attorneys for trustees Henry Peters and Richard "Dickie" Wong met with Circuit Judge Colleen Hirai to work out the schedule for the interim removal proceeding.

Also yesterday, an Oahu grand jury investigating the Bishop Estate appeared to have expanded the focus of its inquiry.

The secret panel -- which had been investigatingWong's alleged role in a kickback scheme -- met yesterday to hear testimony from Bob Watada, the executive director of the state Campaign Spending Commission.

The commission previously investigated allegations of finance abuses relating to the unsuccessful 1996 re-election efforts of former state Sen. Milton Holt and to Sen. Marshall Ige's 1994 campaign.

Regarding the interim removal trial, Renee Yuen, Peters' lawyer, said the defense team plans to call about two dozen witnesses. The witnesses will likely include experts in trust and financial matters.

Hirai previously limited the arguments to findings made by the estate's court-appointed master Colbert Matsumoto in his reviews of the estate's operations for the 1994-1996 fiscal years.

Bronster last September asked the court for the interim removal of four of the five Bishop Estate trustees, saying they mismanaged the estate-run Kamehameha Schools, jeopardized the trust's tax-exempt status and withheld $350 million in estate income that should have been spent on Kamehameha Schools.

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