I found myself named in a court filing by Mike Miske’s attorneys earlier this month. It was kind of a backhanded compliment for the amount of reporting I’ve done on the racketeering case against the former owner of Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, M Nightclub, and other local businesses.
It came at the tail end of a legal memo seekng additional disclosures by the government of evidence gathered in the course of the the long investigation, both by releasing additional documents and by removing redactions from some of the mountain of documents previously turned over to the defense.
In a weird twist, while arguing for greater disclosure, Miske’s attorneys also have requested the court’s permission to file a number of documents under seal, saying these documents would provide specific examples of what the attorneys see as problems hindering Miske’s defense.
A previous motion seeking similar relieve was rejected by Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield after the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest objected to sealing of the exhibits without establishing that they meet the legal criteria for remaining closed to the public.
In any case, in this short section, Miske’s co-counsel–Lynn Panagakos and Thomas Otake–erroneously equate the Civil Beat Law Center, a nonprofit law firm, with Honolulu Civil Beat, an online news organization.
This led to this an embarrassing bit of misplaced outrage: “Defendant is unable to think of a previous situation where a criminal defendant was ordered to meet with the media.”
After these preliminaries, they finally got to the point.
Over the past several years, Civil Beat has published many articles concerning Defendant, most written by Ian Lind. Mr. Lind has written over 80 articles concerning Defendant and his case, more than 20 of which were published by Civil Beat, while the rest were posted on Mr. Lind’s personal
blog. Mr. Lind portrays himself as the “reporter of record” on this case, which he describes as a news source which is considered “authoritative,” and the “first stop” to get information on the case. However, he has made no effort to be impartial. His bias against Defendant is evident in his articles.
Okay. I get it that these high-priced defense attorneys are eager to spin things in their client’s favor. That’s their paying gig, as well as their primary function in our adversarial legal system. I respect that.
And I would expect that they would have equal respect for the role of a free press, in which I now have a bit part.
But, quibbles aside, thanks for the mention of the depth of my reporting to date.
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Hey Ian,
I love it that you got a backhanded compliment by being mentioned in their complaint. You must be having a significant effect. Can’t ask for a better endorsement than that! Keep up the reporting and investigations. More power to you, brah! 🙂
Walter
Amazing, these Defense Attorney’s are making such a poor case for there client, while wasting time and money.
Ian, your Authoritarian control over Ilind.net, As the States primary “Investigative Reporter” and reputation as an honest “Fact Checker”.
A true “Blog-Godfather”, with the ability to influence Judicial outcomes.
Your site is all about Cat’s and consistent accuracy. This court filing, finally gives you full acknowledgement for your years of service, while filing in the Grand Canyon sized gaps of current media reporting.
This comment will self destruct.
I love this line:
“… all about Cat’s and consistent accuracy.”
I urge it be moved to the masthead.
Oh I *completely* agree!
Congratulations!!! That’s how you know you must be doing something right, you’re on to something big and you’re doing it better than the mainstream media. Learned more about so many things by reading your work and your efforts are greatly appreciated, mahalo nui Mr.Lind
Wow. And I thought Tommy Otake was one of the smart kids.
Awesome Ian !!!
Good for you Ian! Ruffling “high-priced defense attorneys” feathers with “just the facts ma’am” reporting, is a noteworthy journalistic goal – CONGRATS!
You are one heck of a good writer/reporter. I too have learned so much by reading your work here and at Civil Beat. Your efforts continue to be greatly appreciated by this reader Ian.
In the world of independent reporting, you are a paragon of virtue. Just wish the world you are exploring had an ounce of it!
Someone, not you, is butt hurt……..?
Your reporting and digging is exemplary. Thanks for continuing to shine a light on the Meske cockroaches.
I hope Civil Beat Law Center’s attorney points out to the judge deciding this the difference between them and the Civil Beat news organization.
Interesting that difference escaped both defense attorneys.
Ian,
Keep up the great work on many fronts! You are an inspiration to all of us “former” journalists ….
I am working on a partner book to my novel “Aloha, Lady Blue” about real shit that happened to me as a crime and court reporter over the years …. like the first time I smelled a decomposing body who apparently was killed by a crime gang on Oahu and left in a car in a pineapple field. Once you smell that smell, you never forget it. I was 16 years old and working at Steven’s Super Service gas station in Aiea. Any abandoned cars on the leeward side of Oahu were towed by contract with the city to the gas station’s property. One morning my boss told me to go clean out the latest car towed in. I opened the trunk and the smell of a decomposing body almost knocked me out. The body was gone but the smell lingered. I was a 16 year old student at Aiea High School at the time and have never forgotten that smell (Partially from running into it during my many years as a crime reporter.) After graduating from college on the mainland and moving back to Hawaii to work for years as crime and investigative reporter for the Star-Bulletin I ran into that smell a lot. In my book I will share a lot of “untold stories” of my time as a crime fighter. I have a lot of memories I never reported but the sickly, sweet smell of my first decomposing body still stands out in my memory. Three-hundred pound underworld hitman Ronnie Ching, who I got to know very well, said he started off his hitman career burying his victims at Makua Beach (“‘Cus easy for dig, eh?”). Later he took his bodies to pig farms where the where the smells weren’t so noticeable. Attorney Chuck Marsland ran for city prosecutor in part to bust Ronnie Ching for killing his young son and to avenge his son’s death. Marsland also got Ronnie (who himself had become a target for the underworld) to plead guilty to killing his son and three other people, including State Senator Sen. Larry N. Kuriyama in 1970. My family drove by Kuriyama’s house on our way to church in Aiea one Sunday and Kuriayama was dead in his garage as we drove by and the police were investigating. Ching ratted out some of his old gangland buddies and was sent to prison on the east coast to avoid being murdered in a Hawaii prison. Before he left for prison he asked to talk to me. He just wanted to talk about his life as a hitman. I met him in Marsland’s office. He was over 400 pounds when he left Hawaii but died from complications of his long time addiction to heroin. When he was sent back to Hawaii to die on the Big Island, he weighed only 140 pounds.
Cheers,
Charley
Keep up the good work Ian! I appreciate the thorough and investigative type reporting in the Miske case. You are definitely the go-to person for the latest and most accurate information.