Committee delays decision on public safety director
HONOLULU — A State Senate committee has delayed the decision on the confirmation of Hawaii Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda as he looks to continue overseeing the state’s prisons and jails, as well as the state’s sheriffs and narcotics enforcement divisions, for another four years.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the Senate Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee on Thursday delayed making a decision on whether to advise the full Senate to reconfirm Espinda.
The committee will make a decision this Thursday, but not before holding an informational briefing today to discuss a recent riot at the Maui jail, among other issues.
Sen. Clarence Nishihara, who leads the committee, says he won’t support Espinda’s confirmation, but told the Star-Advertiser that he isn’t sure where the full Senate stands at this point.
Legal foreign Hawaiian citizen sues state over guns
LIHUE — A foreign citizen living legally in Hawaii is suing the state over laws preventing him from obtaining a gun license.
The Garden Island reported Sunday that United Kingdom citizen Andrew Roberts filed the federal civil lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.
The lawsuit says Hawaii statutes restricting gun ownership on the basis of citizenship are unconstitutional denials of equal protection under the 14th Amendment.
The newspaper reports that Roberts, a director for the Hawaii Firearms Coalition, moved to Hawaii from England 12 years ago and established legal residency.
Roberts says this is his third gun rights lawsuit in Hawaii since 2015.
The newspaper reports Hawaii has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws and is the only state that requires firearms to be registered at a statewide level.
Kauai woman sentenced for fraud
LIHUE — Rowenalynn P. Yorkman, 48, of Kekaha, Kauai was sentenced Monday to 30 months of imprisonment for defrauding the United States Department of Nancy and its employees. She must pay $364,838.33 in restitution and also serve three years of supervised release.
According to a press release by the U.S. Attorney Hawaii office, Yorkman, without authorization, used a co-worker’s account to enter false information and create fraudulent voucher amendments for expenses travelers did not incur. Yorkman then approved these voucher amendments for payment into her own bank account.
Hit-and-run victim ID’d
KAILUA-KONA — A Pahoa man that died from injuries suffered in a hit-and-run vehicle crash that occurred on Wednesday morning on Highway 11, north of Makalika Street, has been identified as 35-year-old Anthony Harper.
The Hawaii Police Department is renewing a request to members of the community who may have any information regarding the circumstances of the vehicle crash or may have observed any recent suspicious front-end damage to a motor vehicle to contact police.
Traffic Enforcement Unit Investigators are also seeking information from persons who may have observed a male pedestrian walking Hilo-bound along Highway 11, (Kanoelehua Avenue), between Keaau town and Makalika Street Wednesday during the early morning hours between 12:30-1:50 a.m.
The Traffic Enforcement Unit has initiated a negligent homicide investigation and is asking for anyone who may have witnessed the accident to contact Officer Erhard Autrata at (808) 961-2329.
Injunction issued on development over burials
WAILUKU — A judge has temporarily stopped work on a Maui housing development following a complaint that the project disturbed Native Hawaiian burial sites.
Judge Joseph Cardoza granted the preliminary injunction Friday, with both sides agreeing to meet to propose additional protections for the burial sites near the Maui Lani development in Kahului, The Maui News reported.
Jennifer Noelani Ahia had filed the complaint in February against the state, Maui County and the landowner, claiming about 180 burials were disturbed. She claimed officials and the landowner knew about the burial sites but failed to protect them.
“My name is on the lawsuit as the plaintiff, but this is a group effort representing the lahui (people) who have been advocating to protect burials for years and years,” Ahia said. “This is the culmination of many years of hard work by many kupuna (elders) from this area.”
Landowner HBT is building the single-family residential development on about 45 acres (18 hectares). The project is being developed in four parts, with the first three nearly completed.
“On behalf of HBT of Maui Lani, we are pleased with Judge Cardoza’s ruling, and we look forward to working with the plaintiff to address the issues requested by the court,” said Michael Carroll, the landowner’s attorney.
State attorney Daniel Morris declined to comment following the ruling Friday.
The injunction will stay in place until protection terms are discussed, said David Kauila Kopper, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. attorney representing Ahia.
“The judge recognized the irreparable harm when burials are disturbed or desecrated — you can’t fix that once it happens,” Kopper said. “He also recognized that burials deserve the highest protection under the law.”
