A federal lawsuit filed in Honolulu last month is seeking the public disclosure of sealed court records relating to the search and seizure of the “Painkiller,” a $425,000 Boston Whaler purchased by a company controlled by Michael John Miske, Jr., owner of Kamaaina Termite & Pest Control and several other local businesses.

Miske, who was indicted last month along with ten associations, allegedly bought and used the boat in a carefully orchestrated plot to kidnap and kill 20-year old Jonathan Fraser “as retribution for Miske’s mistaken belief that Fraser was the driver of a vehicle involved in a serious accident from which Miske’s son, Caleb, eventually died as a result,” according to documents filed by prosecutors in the case.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney Brian Black on behalf of the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest. It asks that the court unseal and make public twenty-one documents that were part of a subsequent lawsuit by Miske’s Hawaii Partners, LLC, that sought to have the boat returned.

Fraser disappeared in July 2016, several months after the death of Caleb Miske.

The FBI executed the search warrant on August 10, 2017 seeking evidence relating to Frasers’s murder, seized the boat, and confiscated certain equipment which has not been publicly identified.

In October 2017, Hawaii Partners filed its lawsuit, initially seeking the return of the boat, and later asking to be reimbursement for the cost of replacing the seized equipment and repairing damage caused during the search.

Hawaii Partners LLC was formed on January 7, 2011, by Miske and two others, Jason Yokoyama and Richard Aqui, according to state business registration records. The three were also partners in Leverage Entertainment, which controlled the M Nightclub.

On July 27, 2016, just three days before Frasier’s disappearance, an amended registration was filed with the state, appearing to transfer control of the company to Delia Ann Miske, Caleb’s widow. The indictment alleges this was part of Mike Miske’s effort to hinder any federal investigation and conceal his continued control of this and other businesses.

Although the Hawaii Partners lawsuit dragged on for two years, little is publicly known about it because every non-administrative document was filed under seal and unavailable for public inspection.

The Civil Beat Law Center complaint argues legal precedent clearly spells out the criteria for sealing court records, which are generally presumed to be open to the public.

The lawsuit cites a 9th Circuit Court decision in a case involving the publisher of the Oregonian newspaper:

“The presumption of openness may be overcome only by an overriding interest based on findings that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest.” Judicial documents thus may only be closed if the three substantive requirements are satisfied: “(1) closure serves a compelling interest; (2) there is a substantial probability that, in the absence of closure, this compelling interest would be harmed; and (3) there are no alternatives to closure that would adequately protect the compelling interest.”

“If there is a compelling reason for sealing these records in the entirety, it must be stated in the record,” the lawsuit argues. In this case, however, there is nothing in the court records to justify the continued secrecy, especially after the indictment was made public six weeks ago.

“Several filings in this case are invisible or sealed without any apparent explanation,” according to the complaint. “There are no publicly filed motions to seal or orders explaining the sealed filings.”

A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for November 6, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. before Judge Leslie Kobayashi.