On Tuesday, December 8, Civil Beat sponsored a one hour online program, “Framed: The Kealoha Saga.” The program was essentially a one-hour interview with Alexander Silvert, the now-retired first deputy federal defender whose defense of Gerard Puana, Katherine Kealoha’s uncle, revealed a web of corruption with Honolulu’s police chief and his wife, a top deputy city prosecutor, at its center. Nick Grube, who has written extensively about the case for Civil Beat, was the interviewer. His detailed knowledge of the corruption investigation allowed him to keep things moving while inserting his own informed comments from time to time.

It was a very interesting interview, primarily because Silvert is an experience attorney and a good story teller. I’ve put a link to the recording at the bottom of this post. But first, here are a few notes of the things that caught my attention or that taught me something I didn’t previously know.

I have used quotation marks around some of Silvert’s answers, but have not gone back to check the quotes. I think they are close to accurate, but they may vary slightly from the words as actually spoken.

Grube began by asking Silvert if he could identify the moment he realized Puana was not just another defendant proclaiming his innocence, but instead found himself looking down a rabbit hole into a secret network of corruption.

Silvert acknowledged it initially appeared to be an open-and-shut case from the prosecution’s viewpoint. HPD had a video showing Puana stealing the mailbox, the chief and his wife confirmed the ID, and were backed up by statements and reports of other police officers.

Silvert gave credit to this investigators, who despite appearances of a straight-forward case, pursued the information necessary to independently confirm the smallest points.

And the breakthrough came on what appeared to be insignificant, the exact model of mailbox that had been stolen.

“We established Katherine Kealoha, the HPD appraiser, and a homicide detective had all lied about the make and model of the mailbox,” said Silvert, who had obtained a photo of the original mailbox and contacted the manufacturer to confirm the model.

Silvert said later their investigation found “virtually all the HPD reports were either falsified or omitted key information.”

According to the manufacturer, the mailbox was not the model claimed by the Kealohas. “There was no reason to lie in this small case about a mailbox,” Silvert said. There had to be more behind these lies.

The mailbox was important to Katherine Kealoha. Under state law, stealing something valued at more than $300 is a felony, and the mailbox claimed by the Kealohas was valued at $380, supporting her attempt to lodge felony charges against Puana. However, the manufacturer-identified model was only worth $180, misdemeanor territory.

The difference would have been significant if the case had been prosecuted in state court, where it would have been a felony. But when the state declined to prosecute, the case kicked over to federal prosecutors, where it ended in a mistrial caused by Chief Kealoha’s testimony (as I recall, it was a prejudicial comment about Puana’s criminal record). Silvert said those in the courtroom for the testimony all had the impression the chief’s testimony was a calculated attempt to end the trial.

“The Kealohas knew what (evidence) I had, the US attorney’s office didn’t know,” Silvert said. “To me, he did it intentionally. He needed to stop me from disclosing what I knew.”

Ironically, the value of the mailbox doesn’t matter under federal law, where any tampering with the mail is considered a felony. So if Katherine Kealoha had known the case would end up in a federal trial, she would not have needed to lie about the mailbox, and might have avoided the unraveling of the whole conspiracy.

Here’s another significant factoid. Silvert said the public doesn’t realize how hard it is to get an acquittal in a federal case. He said more than 90% of federal cases end in guilty pleas, with only 6-7% ever going to trial.

He said the federal defenders office in Hawaii has six members (I believe he was referring to six attorneys).

“In our six member office, we only have two to three trials a year, as a group,” he said.

So is the federal investigation over now that the Kealohas have been sentenced? Not by a long shot.

Michael Wheat, the special assistant U.S. attorney heading the investigation, is still here in Honolulu and still appearing in front of the grand jury, Silvert said.

“Something is still going on,” he said. “If he was going to close up shop and leave, we would know.”

So what’s to come?

“How far up the political ladder it could go, we don’t know,” he said.

Later, he added: “Who knows what these next indictments might bring. It could shake the foundations of our community.”

He also noted that several defendants have yet to be sentenced, including Niall Silva, who I believe was the first HPD officer to plead guilty in the case, Jesse Ebersole, who pleaded guilty to lying about his personal relationship with Katherine Kealoha, and several others.

In addition, federal target letters were previously sent to Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, and Donna Leong, former Honolulu corporation counsel, the city’s top civil attorney. Managing Director Roy Amemiya, and deputy prosecutor Chasid Sapolu were among those who received subject letters.

Silvert explained that target letters don’t have to be sent to prospective defendants. They are intended to send a message.

“They’re telling the defendant, we want you to get a lawyer and start talking to us now,” Silvert said.

“Those letters have been sitting out there for two years. I am sure there have been communications…something may come out of it, indictments, guilty pleas without indictments,” he said.

What about the political establishment’s reaction to the verdicts and the sentences?

“It was disheartening to hear the mayor, the new police chief, and the police commission say it’s tie to move on,” Silvert said. “The phrase was a unified chorus from the establishent.”

“This is what happens when the establishment reasserts itself,” Sivert said. “That shows you the resistance.”

“Oversight committees have to be strengthened, they have to impose transparecy and push for people they are overseeing to answer,” he said. “The political establishment doesn’t want that.”

As for Silvert personally, the retired federal defender says he is working on a book.

Grube asked whether he would consider serving on the police commission.

His reply: “I’m open to being on the police commission. I could see doing something like that.”

But that opportunity will depend on the attitude of the incoming mayor.

I guess we’ll all be watching what happens next on that front, but remember that Rick Blangiardi was endorsed by SHOPO, the police union, which could limit his ability or desire to institute additional police reforms.