When Mitch Roth defeated Lincoln Ashida by a 125-vote margin for the open county prosecutor seat in the November 2012 general election, it was a polite race, as politics go.
This time around, it appeared Roth, who turned 52 Thursday, would be running unopposed in the Aug. 13 primary election. Then on May 23, Mike Kagami, a deputy state attorney general and former deputy prosecutor under Roth and previous prosecutors Charlene Iboshi and Jay Kimura, entered the race two weeks prior to the filing deadline.
This time, the rhetoric is more contentious.
Roth, the office’s point man for community initiatives prior to his election to the top spot, proved an adept campaigner, building a network of supporters in the community and pledging his approach would be “smarter, not just tougher.”
His talking points in interviews and public forums have remained the same: cold-case prosecutions and an array of grants and community initiatives. One is the Big Island Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center, which Roth credits with a 50 percent drop in juvenile court caseloads since 2012 and a non-recidivism rate of 94 percent.
“It’s easier to build strong youth than it is to build broken adults,” Roth said. The incumbent said he brings “a more complete toolbox” to the race than the challenger.
But if Kagami, who described himself as a “nuts-and-bolts prosecutor” has his way, the race will be about who has the most courtroom experience in felony jury trials. Kagami says he is that person. He said he’s running because he thinks Roth has made community programs more important than prosecution.
“That’s our only mandate in the County Charter: Investigate and prosecute crime,” Kagami said. “You know, community programs are important, but that shouldn’t be our main focus. … It’s great Mitch says recidivism for juveniles is down, but, you know, crime still happens. The murder rate has gone through the roof in the past few years, especially in Puna.”
The 57-year-old Kagami is the former head of the office’s felony unit. He was shown the door by Roth in 2013 after a plea deal during the Joseph Amormino Sr. attempted murder trial, with Amormino receiving a 25-year sentence for first-degree assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and two counts of terroristic threatening for the non-fatal shooting of his former girlfriend, June Shirsac. Amormino died less than a year later.
Roth has declined to comment on Kagami’s exit, but one source said Kagami wasn’t authorized to make the deal. Kagami said the deal was one offered prior to trial, and Amormino’s attorney approached him about it during trial.
“I didn’t think we could convict on attempted murder,” Kagami said. “(Amormino) shot her four times at point-blank range but in the legs. … He told her she wasn’t going to die, and he called 911. I think 25 years was an acceptable outcome.”
In a July 9 forum at Hawaiian Shores Community Center, Roth and Kagami were essentially cordial, but newspaper ads since then have been decidedly less so.
One ad by Kagami listed a string of murder, attempted murder and sex assault trials that Kagami prosecuted, and stated Roth has had “no felony jury trials on Hawaii Island” in 18 years. In another ad, Kagami listed a number of murder or attempted murder cases in which charges were reduced or dismissed in 2015 and 2016.
In a decayed-looking red typeface, the ad states: “In 2012, Mitch Roth promised to keep our communities safe.” Unbroken type touted Kagami as “the only prosecutor with a PROVEN RECORD of felony jury trial experience.”
Roth said he’s made good on his promise to prosecute cold cases. He cited convictions of Alexander Gambsky and Daniel DeJarnette for the slayings of their wives, plus recent indictments of Peter Kema Sr. and Jaylin Kema in the 1997 murder of their son, Peter “Peter Boy” Kema Jr., and Patricia Wong in the 2009 shooting death of her friend, Kaycee Smith.
“(Kagami) reviewed all those cases and said (convictions) couldn’t be done,” Roth said. “We looked at those cases with fresh eyes and decided they could. And we got justice in the Gambsky and DeJarnette cases.”
DeJarnette is a retired Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective who lived in Ocean View, and Gambsky, an Orchidland man whom Roth prosecuted himself. Both were indicted for murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received 20-year prison sentences.
“I reviewed these cases with the mindset of: Murder? You cannot convict them of murder,” Kagami said. “I did not evaluate it with the thought of charging them with murder and then reducing it. Evaluation can be different, and I agree with that. He may have thought he could convict them of murder. But if that’s the case, convict them of murder. He certainly hasn’t done that with Gambsky or DeJarnette.
“This year alone, two murder cases were dismissed, Xavier Cortez and Eric Fontes. Just in the past two years, I would think all of the murders or attempted murders were reduced, other than those two.”
One murder charge against Cortez, for the strangulation death of his girlfriend, Sommer Ferreira, was dismissed. Cortez pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and is to be sentenced Aug. 12 for the beating death of Ferreira’s 19-month-old daughter, Pomaikai. That case also was originally charged as a murder.
Roth noted the death of one prosecution witness and the decision by another to not take the stand.
“When we indicted these cases, there were more people who were available to testify than there were toward the end, and we were getting ready for trial. And I think that’s the big thing,” he said.
A murder charge against Fontes in the shooting death of Barton Bumatay was dismissed without prejudice — meaning prosecutors can refile charges — after three witnesses invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at a preliminary hearing.
“The setback was the key witnesses that we didn’t have; from one day to the next, that changed,” Roth said. “The case is under investigation, and we’re looking forward to bringing that to justice, as well.”
Roth has also responded to Kagami’s ads in his own. In one, a bold headline states “Mitch is no stranger to the court.”
In the ad, Roth noted his successful use of a civil nuisance abatement law to clear drug houses. He laid claim to “one of the longest consecutive winning streaks in domestic abuse jury trials in the state,” which Roth said occurred during his five years as a deputy prosecutor in Honolulu.
Roth also touted the 125-year prison sentence in the Paulino Evangelista burglary case in 2003.
Evangelista pleaded guilty to 15 felonies. Prosecutors agreed to recommend he serve concurrent sentences, which would have been 10 years. But, free on bail, Evangelista failed to show up for sentencing. When Evangelista was hauled into court a month later, Roth requested a 60-year prison term, which then-Circuit Judge Riki May Amano more than doubled.
Unlike Kagami’s ads, Roth’s haven’t mentioned his opponent by name, but his final bullet point stated: “Successfully obtained convictions and prison sentences on cases other prosecutors didn’t think would be proved, including cold cases.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.