A couple of significant details emerged yesterday in the criminal case against former Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha and her husband, former HPD Chief Louis Kealoha.

Hawaii News Now reported last night that Katherine Kealoha was known to have used cocaine, citing an affidavit filed in support of a federal search warrant.

Katherine Kealoha used cocaine while serving in the city Prosecutor’s Office, where she oversaw the career criminal unit, newly-filed court documents allege.

In an application for a search warrant filed Thursday ? complete with text messaging strings users sent while apparently high ? authorities said Kealoha used the drug while spending time with other drug users and distributors.

The Star-Advertiser followed with a story of its own (“Katherine Kealoha used cocaine, FBI says”).

This appears to validate the question of whether drug use over a longer term played a role in Katherine Kealoha’s financial problems and erratic behavior.

And Civil Beat’s Nick Grube slipped in some important information in a story yesterday on the transfer of certain cases from the prosecutor’s office to the Attorney General. The part that seems most significant, and that discloses new information to the public, involves the case of former HPD Sergeant Albert Lee.

Grube describes an incident in which Lee, and another of his officers, were threatened if they didn’t drop a traffic case involving Honolulu businessman Michael Miske. It’s another instance of Katherine Kealoha abusing her position as prosecutor. She led the pushback, arranging for an internal complaint to be filed against lee with HPD, and intervening personally in the case. I’ll have more background on this, but probably won’t be able to post until early next week.

Meanwhile, see Grube’s story: “Honolulu Corruption: State Will Take Over Some City Prosecutor Cases.”