Disciplinary panels
differ on Yoshimura’s fate

One group advises a 1-month
suspension; the other wants a year

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By Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.com

City Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura should be suspended from practicing law for one month for lying about a 1999 traffic accident, according to a recommendation by a hearing committee of the Hawaii Supreme Court's Disciplinary Board.

But the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the board's staff who initiated the case against Yoshimura, has appealed the recommendation and instead wants him suspended for a year and a day, which would require him to petition for a reinstatement to the bar.

The case is slated to be heard on Jan. 31 by the full, 18-member Disciplinary Board.

Yoshimura did not return calls last night.

His attorney, William Harrison, said Yoshimura is willing to accept the one-month suspension, but disagreed that harsher discipline is warranted.

The disciplinary counsel said that Yoshimura violated the Hawaii Rules of Professional Conduct, which govern the conduct of attorneys, according to a report from the subcommittee.

At issue is Yoshimura's conduct following his highly publicized July 1999, traffic accident. Documents filed with the disciplinary counsel said that Yoshimura lied to the news media and the disciplinary office about the incident.

The hearing committee's report recounted police accounts that said Yoshimura, less than an hour after the accident, initially refused to open the door for uniformed officers and "exhibited the objective symptoms of alcohol influence."

Yoshimura later told the disciplinary counsel that he had two drinks of scotch when he returned home, according to the Nov. 2 report obtained yesterday by the Star-Bulletin. The councilman told reporters last August that he had one drink prior to the accident.

While the disciplinary counsel and Yoshimura have both confirmed that he is being investigated, details have been closed to the public until now.

Yoshimura, 42, is a candidate for lieutenant governor. An attorney since 1993, he previously was a television reporter and cameraman. He has served on the Council since 1995 and has been chairman since 1999.

According to the report filed by the hearing committee last month, Yoshimura:

>> Left the scene of an accident.

>> Was not truthful about the accident and his activities before the accident, such as drinking alcohol.

>> Lied to the disciplinary counsel in writing on three occasions.

In recommending the one-month sentence, the hearing committee said, "While (Yoshimura's) dishonesty did not involve his representation of or relationship with a client or loss or damages sustained by the client, it does reflect adversely on the respondent and on the legal profession."

The disciplinary counsel is the investigative arm of the Disciplinary Board, which issues and takes away attorneys' licenses and governs their conduct under the auspices of the Supreme Court. The court is the final arbiter.

The counsel said the one-year, one-day suspension is more appropriate because "otherwise, the legal profession and the public will have no assurance that (Yoshimura) is rehabilitated and is otherwise fit and competent to practice law."

Carole Richelieu, chief disciplinary counsel, said last night that the one-year, one-day suspension would require Yoshimura to petition for reinstatement and would have the burden of proof to show fitness and rehabilitation.

Harrison said Yoshimura acknowledges his mistake and is ready to accept the punishment recommended by the committee. A one-year, one-day suspension, Harrison said, would be "a draconian sanction" given that he had no prior disciplinary problems, that he admitted to the conduct and that the conduct did not injure a Yoshimura client.

He noted that the one-year, one-day suspension was the recommendation made by the disciplinary counsel to the hearing committee and rejected in favor of the one-month suspension.

Asked why the disciplinary counsel is seeking a higher penalty, Harrison said, "Obviously, the ODC believes it hasn't gotten its pound of flesh in this case and is asking for more."

Harrison said he hopes the disciplinary counsel is not trying to make an example of a public figure "because that would be inappropriate."

Police said that at about 12:45 a.m. on July 13, 1999, Yoshimura got into his parked 1996 Mercedes-Benz on Auahi Street, fronting Ward Centre. He then made a U-turn and struck a parked, unoccupied Nissan Pathfinder.

In August 1999, a month after the accident, Yoshimura pleaded no contest to the charge of leaving the scene of an accident.

He was fined $35 for violating the state traffic code requiring motorists to stop after striking an unattended vehicle. The violation carries a maximum fine of $100 or 10 days in jail. He also paid for the repair of the Pathfinder.

Yoshimura told reporters that he thought he had collided with a utility pole and continued home, about a mile away.

But three witnesses told police and reporters that Yoshimura could not have mistaken the car for a utility pole.

Last August, Yoshimura held a press conference at which he said he lied when he told reporters he did not drink before the accident. He also apologized for not being truthful.

Asked at the press conference if his admission was related to the disciplinary counsel investigation, Yoshimura said it was not.

The hearing committee report, in making its recommendation for a one-month suspension, said "to his credit, (Yoshimura) did finally recant his false statements concerning the facts surrounding the accident."

Further, he was "sincere and remorseful and no doubt has suffered substantial embarrassment as a result of his conduct."