It sounds like scene from a mobster movie. But prosecutors say they have learned of a 2014 meeting between Miske, one of his key lieutenants, and Honolulu attorney Thomas Otake, in a parking lot near a Waikiki-area elementary school.

My latest story was posted at Civil Beat early this morning. It reports on this meeting and other events of the past 48-hours in the case of former owner of M Nightclub, Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, and other businesses (“Miske Trial Postponed As Prosecutors Present New Details Of Alleged Conflicts Involving Lead Attorneys/Court filings suggest that a change of venue motion may be in the works“).

On Tuesday, prosecutors in the case filed a motion asking Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield to reconsider his order rejecting attorney Tom Otake’s requests to drop out of the Miske case, and provided additional details about the conflicts they believe make his continued representation impossible.

They describe the 2014 meeting Miske in a Waikiki parking lot, which prosecutors say was only recently revealed by a cooperating witness during a December interview. This meeting, they argue, makes Otake an important witness concerning Miske’s knowledge of an attempted drug buy in California that went bad.

And then yesterday an order was issued postponing the trial for another five months, from April to September. It is now scheduled to start on September 11.

Read the CB story for more.

One interesting tidbit. Prosecutors disclosed snippets from a WhatsApp text exchange between Miske and another trusted insider, who I believe was probably Jacob “Jake” Smith, as similar texts between Miske and Smith have been disclosed previously.

“1 charge can be beatable. They going for 50 charges so they can offer to drop 25 and [sic;plea] please to 25,” Miske wrote. “I’m just saying it’s not over” and “that’s why I tell you don’t get into trouble. Because when you do. They quietly pull in your victims and have them testify to assaults, robberies etc and that’s where the 50 (example) comes into play.”

The two then discussed “how they are ‘stressing’ over the possible criminal charges and their belief that another member of the Miske Enterprise is ‘ratting.’”

Tomorrow (Friday) is the deadline for any responses to the government’s motion seeking to disqualify Otake and his co-counsel, Lynn Panagakos, because of their handling (or mishandling) of character reference letters they submitted to court after Miske’s arrest in 2020 as they tried to get him released on bond pending trial. These should make for another interesting update.

Stay tuned.