Kaneshiro to run
for prosecutorThe former city prosecutor is critical
of recent efforts of the incumbent
Former city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro has criticized Prosecutor Peter Carlisle for not throwing more resources into a campaign spending investigation.
"I think (Deputy Prosecutor) Randy Lee has done the best that he could with the resources that he has. ... Having one prosecutor, one or two prosecutors working on a big case like that is not really sufficient. It doesn't have sufficient resources," said Kaneshiro, who represented three clients in the case.
Carlisle defended his handling of the probe into political donations to the campaigns of Mayor Jeremy Harris and other Democrats. "I think that's a misunderstanding of the complexities of that particular case, and that's probably somebody who doesn't really quite know what's going on in the investigation," Carlisle responded.
The two men's approaches to prosecuting public corruption cases surfaced after Kaneshiro, Carlisle's predecessor who served two terms after he was elected in 1988, announced yesterday he is running for his old job.
Since January 2002 the prosecutor's office has lodged criminal campaign spending charges against nearly 30 people linked to major city contractors.
Carlisle, who has said he will seek re-election, said independence is what allows him to prosecute such corruption cases.
"I think it makes a huge difference because I think you can do things like investigate political corruption with people being confident that the decisions are being made for the right reasons," Carlisle said.
Kaneshiro said that when he prosecuted officials with MTL Inc., the company that ran the city bus system until 1992, for theft and other charges, he had four prosecutors working on the case. A mainland investigations firm was also hired.
Carlisle said the political donations investigation should not be the type of case "where you go outside of the state and spend $1 million on somebody like (investigations firm) Kroll and Associates to investigate bus barns." He also said the resources to investigate and prosecute major white-collar crimes, such as the theft case against former city housing employee Michael Kahapea, are available in both the Honolulu Police Department and the prosecutor's office.
Kaneshiro decided not to run for third term in 1996. He was later named state public safety director for two years beginning in 1997.
In 2002 he considered a run for mayor when Harris contemplated stepping down to run for governor. Kaneshiro said he set his sights back on the prosecutor's office because of community concern over crime and drugs.
He also does not like that Carlisle has disbanded many of the specialized prosecution units he set up. Carlisle said he did so because "a good attorney can handle a plethora of cases."
Kaneshiro also has a private security and investigations firm and a law practice.
Kaneshiro's campaign will have nationally known forensics expert Henry Lee as an honorary campaign chairman. Lee is expected to attend Kaneshiro fund-raisers in August.
Lee provided his expertise in high-profile cases on the mainland, like O.J. Simpson's prosecution, and in Hawaii, such as the murder case against former Big Island police officer Kenneth Mathison, who was convicted of killing his wife.
Carlisle's campaign chairman is former Honolulu Police Chief Michael Nakamura.