Monthly Archives: January 2012

On Tuesday, January 31, 2012, Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Keith M. Kaneshiro testified before the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee in support of our Honolulu Prosecutor Bills: House Bill 238, House Draft 2 – Enhanced penalties for a person who violates a temporary restraining order and has a prior conviction of a violent crime; House Bill 245, House Draft 1 – Increases per diem payments for of out-of-state and neighbor island witnesses; Senate Bill 2058 –  Amends section 806-83, HRS, to add the following felonies for which criminal charges may be instituted by written information: section 708-803 (habitual property crime), section 708-812.55 (unauthorized entry in a dwelling in the first degree), section 708-812.6 (unauthorized entry in a dwelling in the second degree), and section 708-835.7 (theft of copper); Senate Bill 2060 – Adds a new section to chapter 571, HRS, to allow family courts to require the accused to transport a witness or witnesses, including a complaining witness or witnesses when the accused has sole physical or legal custody of the witness or witnesses; Senate Bill 2061 – Codifies dismissals pursuant to Rule 48, Hawaii rules of penal procedure and exempts cases for abuse of family or household members charges from the dismissal rule. (The case law for the  constitutional right of “speedy trial” still applies); Senate Bill 2062 – This bill amends section 703-309, HRS that allows a parent or guardian to use justifiable force on a minor if it is not designed to cause or known to create a risk of causing substantial bodily injury, disfigurement, extreme pain or mental distress, or neurological damage.  With this bill, the following types of force shall be unjustifiable where it is likely to cause bodily harm greater than transient pain or minor temporary marks:  throwing, kicking, burning, biting, cutting, striking with a closed fist, shaking a minor under three years of age, striking or other actions that result in any non-accidental injury to a minor less than eighteen months of age, interfering with breathing, threatening with a deadly weapon, or striking on the face.

On Tuesday, January 31, 2012, Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Keith M. Kaneshiro testified before the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee and Senate Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs Committee in support of House Bill 246, House Draft 1, which appropriates funds for the Department of Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu for career criminal prosecution unit, prosecution in drug court, prosecution Hawaii’s opportunity probation with enforcement, and victim witness assistance program.  This is a Honolulu Prosecutor Bill.

On Monday, January 30, 2012 at 1:15 P.M., on behalf of the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, we testifiend before the Senate Committee on Transportation and International Affairs supporting Senate Bill 61, which requires motorists to “move over” or slow down when passing a stationary emergency vehicle on a highway.

On Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 2:50 P.M., on behalf of the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, we testified before the Senate Public Safety, Government Operations, & Military Affairs Committee in support of Senate Bill 2247, which requires communications service providers to provide call location information upon request by public safety agencies responding to emergencies that involves the risk of death or serious physical harm. We worked with Chairman Will Espero to include some of our language from our Senate Bill 2063.

On Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 2 P.M., I testified before the House Judiciary Committee on behalf of the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu in support of House Bill 127, House Draft 1, which requires hospitals to provide emergency contraceptives to survivors of sexual assault. It passed the committee. I have supported this issue since my first legislative session as a legislator in 2003.

On Friday, January 13, 2012, at 10:30 A.M., Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tricia Nakamatsu and I met with leaders from other legal departments in the State of Hawaii to dicuss each other’s legislation, which included Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney Charlene Iboshi, Kauai County Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho via phone, Maui County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and Appellate Division Chief Richard Minatoya, and Deputy Attorney General Lance Goto at the Attorney General’s office.

On Thursday, January 12, 2012, at 12:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M., I attended the Ignition Interlock Task Force meeting at Alakea Corporate Tower’s conference room.

On Tuesday, January 11, 2012, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tricia Nakamatsu, our department’s Director for Victim Witness Advocates Dennis Dunn, and I met with James Dold of Polaris Project to discuss sexual trafficking legislation at our department’s conference room. Mr. Dold traveled here from Washington D.C. where his organization is based.

On Monday, January 9, 2012, from 2:00 P.M. to 5:30 P.M., Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tricia Nakamatsu, our department’s Director for Victim Witness Advocates Dennis Dunn, our department’s Communications Executive Assistant as well as our court dog, Pono, a black Labrador Retriever, attended the House Committee on Human Services, House Committee on International Affairs, Senate Committee on Human Services, and Senate Committee on Transportation & International Affairs’ informational briefing on human and sex trafficking. I was moved by the testimonies stated by a couple of female survivors of sex trafficking.

On Wednesday, January 4, 2012, at 11:00 A.M. I met with Speaker Calvin K.Y. Say and his advisors Calvin Azama and Clarice Hashimoto along with Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tricia Nakamatsu and our clerk, Paul Lacuesta to discuss the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu’s 2012 Legislative Package.  At 2:00 P.M., Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tricia Nakamatsu and I met with Veronika Geronimo and Nancy Kriedman of the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence at their downtown office to discuss their domestic violence legislation as well as ours.