News that the jury had reached a verdict was texted by the clerk of the federal court Thursday afternoon at 1:42 p.m.
Word spread fast. By 3 p.m., there was a crowd waiting for the doors to Judge Derrick Watson’s courtroom to be unlocked, and when the doors opened, they quickly filled the available seats.
The jury verdict was read in court a few minutes after 3:30 p.m.
At 7:43 Thursday night, a reader commented about the absence of a post here about the verdict. “No lead story!! Are you fast asleep with Joe Biden with permanent terminal Loooooooong Covid!”
Well, let me explain. This was one of those events in the long course of this prosecution that was very well covered by a number of other reporters. Since they’re getting paid, and I’m not, I decided to let them do the deadline writing and report the verdict. And that’s exactly what happened.
Here’s some of the stories published as of this morning. Take your pick. And you can check out Google News for more reporting as stories are published.
“Honolulu crime boss Miske guilty of murder, racketeering,” Peter Boylan, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
“Jury Convicts Miske Of 13 Counts, Including Murder In Aid Of Racketeering,” Madeleine Valera, Honolulu Civil Beat
“Mike Miske guilty on 13 counts in criminal enterprise trial, including murder and kidnapping,” Lynn Kawano, Ben Gutierrez and Daryl Huff, Hawaii News Now
“Michael Miske found guilty of murder, racketeering in criminal conspiracy trial,” Kristen Consillio, KITV4
“Honolulu businessman convicted in major racketeering and murder-for-hire case,” Kaya Rivera, Courthouse News
“Family, friends react to crime kingpin Miske guilty verdict,” Jen Boneza, KHON2
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Thank you for covering this trial as much as you have non gratis!!!! I appreciate your insightful writing and have followed along. (ignore mean comments, Miske? Biden? non sequitur much?….jeesh)
I concur. Thanks, Ian, for all your hard work!
Good reporting on stories like this one takes time, and I am surprised that the commenter not only didn’t see that but also disregarded the fact that you make it very clear that when you report, you report clearly and cleanly. Now if you were in the business of chasing breaking news, then maybe they have a point. But your style, Ian, is not that and was worth waiting for your analysis, even though it didn’t happen “right at the moment”.
Thanks, Stan. You’re right. I have rarely chased breaking news. Not my style.
Thank you very much for your long time, continuous and extremely informative reporting on this. You really stepped in to help shine light, illuminate and explain this criminal group that was operating for so long right in our community. I had heard stories about this guy and how he a a “bad reputation” since around 2000, yet still had to work with Kamaaina Termite multiple times over the years due to real estate transactions. It wasn’t until reading your, and Civil Beat’s, reporting that what was really going on became apparent. Hats off to the feds and others for pursuing this. Sure hope the Honolulu police and prosecutors office are paying more attention nowadays and do a lot more to stop off this type of thing from happening again. Kind of worried about all the Miske associates that are getting off with lighter punishments due to “cooperation” deals. Sure hope they’re not back in our community causing problems again anytime soon.
Thank you so much for keeping us updated daily throughout the entire trial. I always looked forward to your report everyday.
You should consider setting up a virtual tip jar in case your loyal readers feel like throwing a few bucks your way for a cup of coffee or something for all the work you have put into this blog over the years.