Big Island judge punts
on issue of open court

HILO » Big Island Circuit Judge Glenn Hara has declined to issue an order to District Judge Matthew Pyun to keep his court open to the public.

Hara's ruling says he was not given enough evidence to find that Pyun did anything wrong when he locked the doors of his court to keep the public out during a bail hearing on Dec. 21.

A transcript of those proceedings shows Pyun told Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Wharton, "The courtroom is not open."

Wharton objected. "It's against the basic precepts of the Constitution of the United States of America," she said.

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

The next day, Deputy Public Defender Melody Parker filed a request for Hara to order Pyun to keep his court open. During a hearing on that request, no explanation was given of any security threats that might have justified locking the court.

In his decision this week, Hara said he was not making any ruling on whether Pyun was wrong in closing his court.

The defendant in the closed-door bail hearing got another bail hearing in Family Court the next day, so the defendant was not denied his rights, Hara said.

A separate question is whether Pyun continues to exclude the public. Hara said he was not given enough evidence about whether Pyun has "any continuing practice" of closing his court.

Parker presented as evidence a Dec. 23 memo from Pyun, which said certain defendants could not be in the court at certain times, but it also mentioned "spectators," suggesting the public would be allowed to enter.

Hara declined to rule on whether excluding some defendants at certain times meant a partial closure.