HILO >> Departing Big Island Circuit Judge Riki May Amano has signed an order fining two attorneys an unprecedented total of $175,000 for alleged misconduct in a police exam-cheating lawsuit. Attorneys fined in Big
Isle police exam lawsuit
By Rod Thompson
CORRECTION
Thursday, April 17, 2003» Outgoing Big Island Circuit Judge Riki May Amano signed an order April 8 imposing fines on two attorneys involved in the police exam cheating case. An article on Page A3 Tuesday incorrectly said that she had signed the order on Friday.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.
rthompson@starbulletin.comAmano ordered Honolulu attorney Gale Ching to pay $100,000 and Hilo attorney Alika Thoene to pay $75,000.
Amano ruled that Ching and Thoene filed a frivolous countersuit against 19 police officers who sued over alleged cheating on promotions in the Hawaii County Police Department. Ching represented former Police Chief Wayne Carvalho, and Thoene represented former Deputy Chief Francis DeMorales.
Thoene's attorney Richard Peterson said in 2000 that the largest previous fine he knew of was $16,000.
Amano announced the fines in April 2000 but did not sign papers imposing them until Friday, her last day of work after not being retained by the state Judicial Selection Commission.
Peterson said he believes the verdict in the main case will be overturned by the state Supreme Court. He thinks Amano delayed while hoping for a settlement in the case that would cut the pending appeal short. Amano was not available for comment.
Amano's written order says Ching and Thoene's countersuit was frivolous because it claimed there was no basis for the 19 officers suing Carvalho and DeMorales. DeMorales had already confessed to cheating, she said.
Ching and Thoene said in 2000 that they would appeal. The first step could be for them to file a motion for Amano's replacement, Terence Yoshioka, to reconsider her order. If Yoshioka failed to grant that, they could ask him to hold off making them pay while they appeal to the state Supreme Court.
The suit arose from events that began in the 1980s when Guy Paul was chief, Carvalho was deputy chief and DeMorales was an inspector.
Testimony during the 1999 trial indicated that Paul would tell Carvalho whom he wanted promoted, and Carvalho would tell DeMorales, who then "fixed" questioning in promotions board meetings by giving information to Paul's favorites.
The promotions board was advisory in nature, and Paul retained the legal right to pick any candidate from among the top five determined by the civil service system.
Lawyers for the suing officers successfully argued to the jury that Carvalho and DeMorales were involved in racketeering and a conspiracy that continued after Carvalho left the department in 1989.
The jury found Carvalho responsible for events in the department from 1989 to 1995 when he was working for a private company.
Paul was a defendant in the case but did not have to pay because of prior settlements. Carvalho, DeMorales and Hawaii County were found liable by the jury for $4.2 million.
