Big Isle police chief
By Rod Thompson
denies fixing promotions
Star-BulletinHILO -- Hawaii County Police Chief Wayne Carvalho testified yesterday that he never rigged promotional exams in his department.
Carvalho's testimony came in the seventh week of a trial arising from a lawsuit brought by 19 current and former police officers.
The officers allege Carvalho and former Inspector Francis DeMorales rigged exams and cheated officers of promotions. Two earlier plaintiffs were dismissed.
Carvalho testified that as deputy chief in the 1980s under then-Chief Guy Paul, he relayed to DeMorales the names of Paul's preferred candidates for promotion.
But Carvalho said he never told candidates what questions or topics to expect during interviews, and never gave candidates answers.
DeMorales testified earlier that he often chaired boards which gave oral exams to candidates.
He frequently told preferred candidates questions and answers, believing he was acting on orders from Carvalho and Paul, he testified.
Attorney David Minkin, representing Hawaii County, has told jurors it doesn't matter what DeMorales did, since Paul had the legal right to pick anyone he wanted from among the top five candidates.
Carvalho said he was surprised when he was sued in 1997 but Paul was not. "Why am I named in the suit when I was a soldier taking orders from the chief?" he asked.
Carvalho sued Paul as a third-party defendant in the case.
Carvalho said the department was thrown into turmoil in 1988 when Paul learned a group of officers associated with DeMorales were involved in a craps game.
DeMorales was sent to Waimea. Maj. Richard Carter was sent to Puna. In a heated argument, Carvalho suggested to Paul that he was overreacting. Paul retaliated, Carvalho said.
Amid controversy over the reassignments, Paul took early retirement. The new chief, Victor Vierra, wanted Carvalho to go on sick leave, but Carvalho refused.
Vierra ordered Carvalho, still the deputy chief, out of the headquarters building for the next nine months, Carvalho said.
