The governor's appointment of former federal prosecutor Ed Kubo to an Oahu Circuit Court judgeship is uncertain after a Senate committee deadlocked on approving his nomination.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Brian Taniguchi recommended against Kubo's confirmation, but the committee ended its hearing yesterday split 3-3.

A vote on Kubo's nomination could come to the Senate floor as early as today.

The tie, as well as the recommendation of the chairman, could be an influential factor as the full membership decides. Senate President Colleen Hanabusa has publicly stated that she will support all of her committee chairmen.

Kubo declined comment after the hearing.

Taniguchi said his recommendation was partly based on Kubo's failure to disclose complaints against him to the Judicial Selection Commission, which submits a list of potential nominees to the governor.

Kubo later disclosed one particular case—a 1997 dismissal that was prompted because Kubo failed appear in court—to the Hawaii Bar Association during its interview process.

Taniguchi said the substance of the complaint was of less importance to him than Kubo's handling of the question about disclosure.

“;The response I was looking for was some acknowledgment that, maybe, it was something he had overlooked—something that maybe should have been disclosed earlier to the Judicial Selection Commission,”; said Taniguchi (D, Moiliili-Manoa).

“;He went into why he didn't disclose it,”; Taniguchi added, “;as opposed to acknowledging that maybe he should have.”;

In the 1997 criminal case, Kubo explained that a massive power failure downtown on the day of the trial had affected the federal building. After he had left the building for lunch, court officials could not locate him to inform him he needed to return to court.

Kubo was ordered to write letters of apology to the court and to jurors.

The case was raised in one of the two pieces of testimony submitted in opposition to Kubo.

Overall, Kubo drew overwhelming support from a cross section of the legal community, as well as state representatives including House Speaker Calvin Say, and the Honolulu prosecutor's office and the county mayors.

Among the committee members who disagreed with Taniguchi's recommendation was Sen. Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Hawaii Kai).