More from the trial testimony of Kaulana Freitas, a cousin of former Honoluu business owner Michael J. Miske Jr. and one of Miske’s 12 co-defendants. Freitas and each of the other co-defendants pleaded guilty before the start of testimony in Miske’s trial.

Freitas describes the benefits of being in Miske’s good graces, which included regular food and drinks at Miske’s M Nightclub, later renamed Encore. But receiving those benefits required doing some things Freitas testified he had not wanted to do.

Q Mr. Freitas, so my question is: Why were you doing these
things if you didn’t want to?
A Because he was my cousin, I was doing what I was told.
Q Was it simply that he was your cousin and that you were
doing what you were told or was there more to it than that?
A It was a little more to that.
Q Was it important for you to keep Mr. Miske happy?
A Yes.
Q Why was that?
A Because there was benefits to making him happy.
•••
Q Was there any sort of financial benefit to you?
A Yes.
Q Describe how you received any financial benefit.
A Would be more jobs, more — more opportunities to make
more money.
Q What about any sort of I guess what you referred to as
perks or things you would get for free that you might not
otherwise get?
•••
THE WITNESS: Yes. There would be — there would be
more benefits of going to a nightclub not having to pay for
anything like that.
BY MR. INCIONG:
Q Which nightclub are you referring to?
A M Nightclub.
Q Did you frequent the M Nightclub regularly?
A Yes.
Q How often would you go?
A Every weekend.
Q Who would you go to the M Nightclub with?
A My cousin John Stancil.
Q Over what period of time would you go every weekend?
A Since 2015, ’14.
Q More than a year?
A More than a year.
Q Two years?
A Yes.
Q Every weekend for two years? Is that a yes?
A Yes.
Q Did you ever have to pay for anything when you were at the
club?
A No, I didn’t.
Q No cover charge?
A No cover charge.
Q No — no drinks that were charged to you?
A No.
Q Did you ever eat there?
A Yes.
Q Ever charged for food?
A No.
Q Why do you think you were allowed to eat and drink for
free at the M Nightclub?
A Because I was family.
Q Was that part of the reason you were doing these things
like dropping the tear gas and — and committing the assaults
because you wanted to keep those benefits?
A Yes.
Q You worked with Mr. Miske closely for an extended period
of time, correct?
A Yes.
Q Did you become aware from your dealings with him and the
dealings with the various businesses you had whether he had any
reputation in the community?
A Yes.
Q What was his reputation?
A He was known as a business man and — and he was feared.
Q Did you benefit in any way from either of those
reputations?
A Yes.
Q Starting with his reputation as a business man, how did
you benefit from that?
A Getting more job opportunities.
Q His reputation for being feared, how did you benefit from
that?
A His protection.
Q Did you take advantage of that?
A Yes.
Q How so?
A By doing other acts.
Q Such as?
A Robberies.
Q Anything else?
A And drug dealings.

•••

Q How did you benefit from his protection, as you said, when
you were dealing drugs?
A Everybody knew that I was Mike Miske’s little cousin.
Q Did you feel like that meant you — they — people would
not cause retribution on you that they might otherwise have?
A Yes.
Q Was it — was it important for you to maintain all of
those various benefits and protections you described?
A Yes.
Q Is that why in — at least in part you were committing
these acts that you’ve told us about so far today — or
yesterday?
A Yes.

See more of Kaulana Freitas’ testimony in yesterday’s post, “Bits of the Miske backstory.”