Closure of courtroom
to public challenged

HILO » A move this month by Hilo District Judge Matthew Pyun to close his court to the public will be reviewed by a higher court in January.

Circuit Judge Glenn Hara yesterday ordered a Jan. 10 hearing on a request for an order preventing Pyun from closing his court without adequate reason.

The request was filed by Deputy Public Defender Melody Parker, whose office represents Tadashi Endo, charged with contempt of court for failing to meet with court officials. A bail hearing for Endo was closed by Pyun.

According to a transcript of the Dec. 21 Endo hearing, Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Wharton asked, "Is the courtroom open?" Pyun answered, "The courtroom is not open."

Wharton objected to the closure: "It's against the basic precepts of the Constitution of the United States of America. The court is a public forum."

Pyun answered, "For security purposes, we do not allow the public to be in the same courtroom while we have people in custody."

Parker called that "a large deviation from the norm." She said Pyun also closed his court the day before the Endo hearing.

On Dec. 22, Parker filed papers requesting openness. Pyun's intention since then isn't clear.

The next day, Pyun sent a memo to Prosecutor Jay Kimura, Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna and others, saying defendants would be allowed into court only on a strict schedule. The memo didn't mention closing the court.

But Parker told Judge Hara yesterday that at least a partial bar of the public from the court remains.

Deputy Attorney General Howard Shiroma, assigned to represent Pyun yesterday, said Pyun was in Kona and Shiroma couldn't reach him.

Pyun's Dec. 23 memo says, "While Court is in session, Deputy Sheriffs shall make every effort to place themselves in the front of the courtroom facing the spectators in a position to prevent any attack on attorneys or staff."

In court papers, Parker noted that everyone entering the court building goes through a metal detector. She also wrote, "The court did not state any specific security threat that it may have received."