GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
The state has asked that perjury charges be reinstated
against former Kamehameha Schools trustee Richard
"Dickie" Wong, shown here leaving Circuit Court in 1999.

State going after
Wong again

It wants the court to reconsider
a decision on perjury charges

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

The state has asked Circuit Judge Michael Town to set aside his earlier dismissal of April 2001 perjury charges against former Kamehameha Schools trustee Richard "Dickie" Wong and allow the case to proceed to trial.

Town dismissed the charges in May, saying the court had no jurisdiction since part of the case was still on appeal before the Hawaii Supreme Court.

Wong had appealed Town's dismissal of a three-count perjury indictment brought in 1999, seeking a review of the court's determination that there was probable cause to support at least one of the counts.

But a June 27 order by the Hawaii Supreme Court dismissed Wong's interlocutory appeal, saying it had no jurisdiction since the case had been dismissed.

Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Goya said based on the order, Town did have jurisdiction to try the April 2001 perjury charges, and he should not have dismissed the indictment.

Rather, Town should have forced the state to either pursue its appeal of the dismissal of the 1999 indictment or prosecute Wong on the 2001 perjury charges, Goya said.

Eric Seitz, Wong's attorney, renewed his previous arguments that the court had no jurisdiction and therefore was correct in dismissing the April 2001 indictment.

He said the state is trying to harass Wong "in every court and every way they can."

The state maintains the April 2001 indictment was based on entirely new evidence than that presented to the 1999 grand jury, on different statements Wong had made to the grand jury and a new theory on how Wong had perjured himself.

Goya said it is clear by two separate statements Wong made to the grand jury in 2001 that Wong perjured himself when he said he did not talk to anyone about a 1995 Kalele Kai land deal between Bishop Estate and a partnership that involved Wong's brother-in-law, Jeffrey Stone.

Seitz said Wong never denied talking to Bishop Estate staff, but he did recuse himself from anything dealing with Kalele Kai.

Town will rule at a later date.