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IN COURT
Defendant in Ewa
Villages fraud case
pleads no contestBy Debra Barayuga
Lawyers fined for frivolous suits
Star-BulletinA co-defendant in the Ewa Villages fraud case has pleaded no contest to second-degree theft and money-laundering.
David Brian Kaahaaina, 33, asked Judge Richard Perkins yesterday to grant him a deferred acceptance of his no-contest plea. If he abides by certain conditions, the convictions would be erased from his record.
That leaves only fired city housing official Michael Kahapea and businessman Steven Swift to face trial next week in the fraud that cost the city about $5.5 million.
Kaahaaina's attorney, Chester Kanai, said he will ask that the court defer his client's plea or grant probation.
"Of the minor players," Kaahaaina is the least culpable, Kanai said.
Kaahaaina has no prior history, is self-employed and works full-time, he added.
The state contends that from 1993 to 1997, Kaahaaina owned a business called American Hauling that was paid $355,000 to move itself and Oahu Sugar from Ewa Villages.
The billings were signed by Kaahaaina and Kahapea, who oversaw the city's relocation projects and as part of his job was to ensure the work was completed.
But American Hauling didn't move Oahu Sugar or itself, said Deputy Prosecutor Franklin Pacarro Jr. "American Hauling is still in Ewa Villages."
Under a plea agreement, Kaahaaina will share with investigators what he knows about the alleged scheme but is not required to testify against Kahapea.
Lawyers fined for
countersuits in Big
Isle cop caseAttorneys in the recent promotions-
By Rod Thompson
rigging trial filed 'frivolous' claims
Star-BulletinHILO -- Two lawyers who defended Big Island Police Chief Wayne Carvalho and former Deputy Chief Francis DeMorales from promotional cheating charges have been fined $175,000 for filing "frivolous" counterclaims.
Judge Riki May Amano yesterday imposed a "sanction" of $100,000 on attorney Gale Ching, who defended Carvalho, and $75,000 on attorney Alika Thoene, who defended DeMorales.
Carvalho and DeMorales were sued by 19 officers for allegedly rigging promotions during the 1980s and early 1990s. Their attorneys argued that irregularities in the promotional process were created by former Chief Guy A. Paul.
The attorneys said the acts of Carvalho and DeMorales were done obeying Paul's stated "preferences."
Irregularities did not matter because Paul had the legal right to pick anyone he wanted from a preselected civil service list, they said.
The attorneys countersued on several grounds such as slander.
The 19 officers won the case and $4.2 million.
Amano determined yesterday that Ching and Thoene should have known the facts were against them.
Attorney Richard Peterson, representing Thoene, said the largest fine he knew of in the past for a frivolous lawsuit was $16,000.
Ching and Thoene must pay half of the $175,000 to the 19 officers. The other half goes to Hawaii County, a losing defendant that did not file counterclaims.
Ching and Thoene said they will appeal the fines.
Man, involved in
By Debra Barayuga
earlier beating, gets life
for robbery
Star-BulletinA man who eluded prosecution for his role in a 1996 beating that left a man comatose for nearly three weeks was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for an unrelated home-invasion robbery last December.
Judge Marie Milks yesterday ordered Genaro Gualdarama to serve a minimum six years and eight months for being a repeat offender.
The judge also granted the state's request to extend four 20-year terms into life terms because of previous convictions for violent offenses.
In the 1999 case, Gualdarama and another man, Maynard Perry, were charged with forcing their way into an Ewa home while armed, tying up the residents with duct tape and trying to steal two safes. Two of the three residents were threatened with a gun. Police arrived as Gualdarama and Perry were trying to load the safes into a car.
Gualdarama was then on parole for a 1994 robbery conviction in which he inflicted serious injuries by beating a victim with brass knuckles, prosecutors said.
He was acquitted in the 1996 beating of a California visitor after a jury couldn't agree on whether he and not others with him at the time inflicted the life-threatening injuries. The case was later dismissed.
"Although he escaped responsibility for that crime, he was held fully accountable in this case, and fortunately didn't hurt anyone," said Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter.
The visitor, Jay Waller, suffered a crushed forehead and other facial fractures in the incident and later recovered.
