The image management battle over the reputation of Honolulu businessman Michael John Miske, Jr. has been joined.

In the indictment made public on June 18, 2020 and a subsequent legal memo asking that Miske remain behind bars until trial, federal prosecutors describe him as “a grave dangers to the community,” alleging he was the “the unquestioned leader of a racketeering enterprise which routinely committed violent crimes and assaults and used threats and intimidation to protect the illegal activies….”

Further, prosecutors argue he “directed, ordered, and facilitated” a number of serious crimes ranging from kidnapping, assault, and extortion, to murder for hire and drug trafficking.

But on Friday, August 7, Miske’s legal team filed a legal motion and series of supporting documents aimed at rebutting the government’s portrayal of their client and supporting his release to house arrest until his trial.

They paint Miske as a loving and devoted family man whose mission is to be a “strong father figure” to his baby granddaughter, a man “intrinsically entwined with Hawaii” who strives to “selflessly and personally do what is best for others no matter the consequences.”

“Mr. Miske has a criminal record, but his last conviction was long ago,” his attorneys argue. “Since then, Mr. Miske has been an exceedingly hard-working, and successful, businessman.”

Included are seven letters written as character references by employees, family members and friends, and others. Four letters were written in August or September 2018, two in early 2019, and one is undated.

Miske’s legal team is made up of Honolulu attorneys Thomas M. Otake and Lynn E. Panagakos, along with Michael N. Burt, a highly-regarded San Francisco-based criminal defense attorney who has been named “learned counsel” because of his extensive experience in capital cases, as required by federal law when a case includes charges that could lead to the death penalty.

“Mr. Burt is nationally recognized for his expertise in federal capital litigation, presenting expert mental health evidence, and challenging forensic science evidence,” according to the letter of appointment assigning Burt to the case.

Panagakos is a former U.S. Attorney now specializing in criminal defense. She also represents Honolulu Corporation Counsel Donna Leong, who received a letter early last year notifying her she was the target of a criminal investigation apparently relating to the payment to former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha as part of a retirement package negotiated while he was under federal investigation.

The documents filed on Friday disclose Miske retained Panagakos to represent him in July 2017 after “several financial institutions terminated banking relationships with Mr. Miske and KTPC, without explanation.”

“Since Mr. Miske had not engaged in suspicious financial transactions which would have warranted such actions, the obvious inference was that the Federal Government’s criminal investigation targeting Mr. Miske was ongoing,” the defense team’s legal memo asserts.

Then on August 10, 2017, “the FBI executed a warrant to seize and search the Boston Whaler” allegedly used in the murder-for-hire of Jonathan Fraser.

Fraser was best friends with Miske’s son, Caleb, who died as a result of injuries sustained in a November 2015 automobile accident in which both men were involved. Fraser survived the crash, and the elder Miske allegedly blamed him for Caleb’s death.

From the search warrant, Miske knew he was the target of an active federal investigation of Fraser’s death, a potential capital offense, and that a federal magistrate judge had made a finding of probable cause against him in approving the search warrant.

Miske’s lawyers argue that despite this early knowledge of the nature and extent of the federal investigation, Miske “did not respond by intimidating potential witnesses or by making plans to flee. Instead, in anticipation of his eventual arrest and government motion to detain him pending trial, Mr. Miske began assembling character reference letters to be submitted to the Court in support of his anticipated request for pretrial release,” according to his legal team’s memo.

The documents include character reference letters on Miske’s behalf from Angela Varnadore, who describes herself as “a close family friend for the last ten years; Kahu Curt P. Kekuna, retired senior pastor of Kawaiahao Church; Kamaaina Termite employees Brian Marina and Larry Kapu; Allen Lau, Miske’s 1st cousin and general manager of Miske’s Kamaaina Plumbing and Renovations; Paul Makani Christensen, whose Keawe Consulting LLC promotes adventure tourism, and worked with Miske “on an issue regarding jet ski operations within the launching area of Maunalua Bay”; and Kurt Nosal, representative for a chemical supplier that counts Kamaainna Termites as “one of our biggest accounts.”