A Maui woman who sparked several takeovers of private land based on a mistaken understanding of Native Hawaiian rights has pleaded “no contest” to criminal charges for her admitted role in the illegal occupation of the home and property of a retired state judge.

Alicia Napuaonalani Hueu entered a “no contest” plea in a Maui courtroom earlier this year to 1st degree theft, a Class B felony, as well as two misdemeanor charges, obstructing a government function and criminal property damage. Two of her co-defendants also pleaded guilty to felony charges, one to 1st degree theft and another to 1st degree burglary. Charges against two others were dropped by prosecutors as part of their plea deal with Hueu.

All three defendants were granted a deferred acceptance of their pleas, and released on 4-years probation. If they stay out of trouble and comply with the terms of their probation, the convictions will be removed from their records.

This is believed to be the first time felony charges have been successfully brought against Hawaiians wrongly asserting native land rights under the false theory of “heirdom” promoted by Hueu, which asserts a “lineal descendant” of the original recipient of a Hawaiian Kingdom-era royal land grant retains an ownership interest “in perpetuity” that is superior to modern land titles and gives the right to control the property. In this view, neither time nor valid prior property sales or transfers can extinguish the ownership rights of descendants.

Whether its proponents are able to suspend their sense of reality enough to accept this theory as true, or have cynically weaponized it as a narrative to generate support for native Hawaiian land rights and sovereignty, isn’t clear from the record.

Other similar property takeovers based on claimed family ties to specific properties have generally been treated as civil disputes over land title, no matter how flimsy the claims put forward under the guise of native rights. This has left the legal owners to fend for themselves, and bear the substantial cost, in time and money, of defending their title and regaining access to their own property through protracted civil court proceedings.

Although courts have upheld some challenges to past takings of land from Hawaiian families, those victories required evidence showing title had never been validly sold or otherwise legally transferred over the intervening century and a half since the original royal patents were issued.

The theory of “heirdom,” in contrast, eschews analysis of title claims and instead relies entirely on genealogical ties to the original land grant recipient.

“Cease and Desist”

Hueu was arrested on January 4, 2020 after she and others took over 3.3 acres of land and 2-bedroom small two-bedroom home located along Hana Highway in Kipahulu, Maui. The property was owned by retired District Court Judge Douglas McNish and his wife, who had purchased it in 2006 for $1.55 million, and had listed it for sale in 2019, real estate records show.

McNish served as a family court judge on Maui from 1984 until his retirement at the end of 1999. News clippings show he was well regarded, and is credited with launching a program in 1988 requiring couples who have filed for divorce to attend a workshop concerning the impact of divorce on children. The program was later expanded into courts statewide and is now known as “Kids First.”

On November 29, 2019, five weeks before the confrontation that led to Hueu’s arrest, she sent a “cease and desist” letter by certified mail to McNish and his wife alleging they were trespassing,”illegally” occupying an “unpermitted” home on the property, and conducting an “unauthorized” land sale.

The site was identified as part of 273-acres conveyed by royal land patent No. 1902 to Kaumaia and nine others in December 1855.

The letter itself identifies Hueu as “Governor of Maui” in the “Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands.” After her arrest, Hueu also described herself as “representative and caretaker for descendants of Kaumaia.”

Elsewhere, she described herself as “a Hawaiian National and Prisoner of War residing on the Island of Maui within the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands / Sandwich Islands.” She also claimed the titles of “Captain” and “Judge Advocate General” in Occupied Forces Hawaiian Army, a Hawaiian nationalist group that purports to be the military of the Hawaiian Kingdom, now engaged in “civil affairs” while under occupation.

Later, in a federal court proceeding, Hueu said she is a “foreign national, subject and or citizen not belonging to the United States[.]”

The “cease and desist” letter includes a replica of the Hawaiian Kingdom royal crest, and uses a return address, “Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands” at a post office box in Haiku used by Hueu.

The letter meanders from citations to Hawaiian Kingdom laws of 1859 to references to 20th century international laws of war, The Hague and Geneva Convention, and boldly claims authority to order McNish to vacate.

The Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands hereby gives you notice that the descendants of Kaumaia are the sole kuleana holders of the properties described above. As the kuleana holder, the descendants of Kaumaia hold exclusive rights to exercise its authority over the subject properties as governed under Kamehameha III 1850 self-executing Ratified Treaty with the United States of America.”

Under said authority, the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands has NOT granted permission for use of the subject properties, in whole or in part, to you or any organization you are affiliated with. You and any other parties or groups you represent or are otherwise affiliated with are therefore trespassing on Kaumaia kuleana land; LCA helu 1902….

…The Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands demand that you immediately remove all structures and personal property from the subject properties. Access for removal of structures and personal property can be requested from the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands Governor of Maui office and removals must be completed by 12/13/19. Be advised that any existing or new structure(s), and equipment remaining on the property after 12/13/19 is subject to disposal pursuant to Kamehameha III Treaties, 1852 Constitution, Civil and Penal Codes of the Hawaiian Islands.

Sometime in the latter part of December, following the letter’s deadline, an associate chained and locked the gate into the McNish, according to Hueu’s later testimony before the Maui Police Commission. McNish apparently removed them, prompting Hueu’s associate call Maui police and file a complaint of criminal property damage, valuing the missing broken chain and locks at $95.

It was an audacious scheme, breaking into and taking over someone’s land and house, changing the locks, then accusing the legal owner of tresspassing when they try to reenter their own property, and asking the police to enforce your fictitious title.

It didn’t work for long. Two days later, on January 3, a police report said Hueu was trespassing on the property.

The following day, police returned, cut a new set of chains and locks that had been placed on the entry gate, and entered the property. Hueu was taken from the scene in handcuffs and later charged with extortion, theft, and burglary, all felonies, along with a long list of related misdemeanors. After languishing in court for over three years, the case was concluded when Hueu accepted a plea bargain.

It remains to be seen whether prosecutors will be inclined to consider felony charges when the victim of this kind of calculated land theft is a regular citizen without the resources and connections of a retired judge.