The state has filed notice appealing a Circuit Court judge's dismissal of the most recent perjury charges filed against former Kamehameha Schools trustee Richard "Dickie" Wong. State appealing dismissal
of Wong perjury chargesBy Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comBecause the matter is now before the Hawaii Supreme Court, Circuit Judge Michael Town has no jurisdiction over the case and could not rule yesterday on the state's motion to reconsider his June 14 dismissal of the April 2001 indictment.
Town did say that if he had jurisdiction, he would have been inclined to grant the motion.
In the April indictment -- the third brought against Wong -- the state charged Wong with two perjury counts concerning statements he made disputing that he spoke to anyone about a 1995 Kalele Kai land deal between Bishop Estate and a partnership that involved his brother-in-law Jeffrey Stone.
The state maintains the new charges were based on new evidence not presented to the 1999 grand jury, on different statements Wong had made to the grand jury and a new theory about how Wong had perjured himself.
Wong contends he never denied talking to Bishop Estate staff, but he did recuse himself from anything dealing with Kalele Kai.
The state went ahead and filed its appeal of Town's decision because it had only 30 days from the initial dismissal before it would have lost the ability to appeal, said Deputy Attorney General Larry Goya.
Wong's attorney Eric Seitz said the deadline for filing the appeal could have been extended by agreement of the parties, but the state never asked.
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