Category Archives: Law

What happens to Miske’s Portlock luxury home and other assets?

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It seems almost certain that the original indictment of Mike Miske, along with the three superseding indictments that expanded both the charges and the list of co-defendants, will soon be “vacated” or set-aside due to his death prior to sentencing and appeal, along with the government’s seizure an estimated $25 million or more of Miske’s personal and business property and assets.

Miske’s defense counsel filed a motion just a week after his death in December, and prosecutors have agreed that the law requires that the indictment’s disappear. Vacating the indictments as to Miske will not affect the convictions of nearly 20 co-defendants and associates who pleaded guilty prior to trial.

So what happens to Miske’s Portlock mansion valued for tax purposes at $7.5 million, along with a Kailua home, $4.3 million in cash and cashier’s checks, collectible cars (including a 2017 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta), art work, and other assets?

Contrary to conspiracy theories floating around, all this property will not automatically be returned to his family when the indictments, and his convictions, are voided.

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Miske’s criminal case enters its final stage

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What does the case of Mike Mike, the former owner of Kamaaina Termite and other Honolulu businesses, have in common with that of Kenneth Lay, the founder and CEO of Enron, the Texas-based energy company that collapsed in 2001 in what at the time was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history?

Quite a lot, it seems.

Lay was convicted in 2006 on 10 counts of fraud and related offenses tied to the corporate bookkeeping shenanigans that led to the Enron collapse, and faced criminal forfeiture of millions worth of his personal assets. But Lay died of a heart attack in 2006, a few months before he was scheduled to be sentenced and before a planned appeal had been filed.

Michael J. Miske, Jr., was convicted last July by a federal jury on 13 counts of racketeering, as well as murder, kidnapping and related offenses. The same jury said an estimated $25 million in cash, real property, and other assets should be forfeited to the government because they were obtained, at least on part, with proceeds of Miske’s criminal activity. And, like Lay, Miske died in December 2024, weeks before he was to be sentenced.

Both deaths, having occurred prior to sentencing and before their appeals could be pursued, implicated the legal doctrine of abatement ab initio, which requires the criminal charges to be vacated, or cancelled, because the defendants had not been able to exercise their right to appeal.

Federal prosecutors agree with Miske’s defense counsel that the indictments naming him must be vacated as a matter of law, but that isn’t the end of the matter.

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Resignation in protest

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Read the 8-page letter from Danielle Sassoon, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, explaining her decision to resign rather than follow orders to drop the corruption charges against NY Mayor Eric Adams.

She is not alone in her decision to resign in protest.

Not since Richard Nixon’s reign has there been a similar flurry of resignations by those who say the Trump administration is improperly and blatantly using the legal system for its own political ends.

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Attorneys General Statement Re: The VPs Comments On Judicial Review

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News Release 2025-27 from Anne Lopez, Attorney General, State of Hawaii

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2025

“If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”
Vice President Vance, February 9, 2025

HONOLULU – Attorney General Anne Lopez released the following joint statement signed by 17 state attorneys general regarding Vice President Vance’s comments on judicial review made on February 9, 2025.

“The Vice President’s statement is as wrong as it is reckless. As chief law enforcement officers representing the people of 17 states, we unequivocally reject the Vice President’s attempt to spread this dangerous lie.

“Judges do not ‘control’ executive power. Judges stop the unlawful and unconstitutional exercise of power. As Chief Justice Marshall said in Marbury v. Madison over 200 years ago, ours is ‘a government of laws, and not of men,’ and that ‘it is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.’ For those who value the original intent of the founders and our legal traditions, nothing is more firmly rooted in our legal history, tradition, and the original intent of the founders than the power of judges to stop the executive from breaking the law.

“Americans understand the principle of checks and balances. The judiciary is a check on unlawful action by the executive and legislative branches of government. Generals, prosecutors, and all public officials are subject to checks and balances. No one is above the law.

“As Attorneys General, we will carefully scrutinize each and every action taken by this administration. If the Constitution or federal law is violated, we will not hesitate to act.

“That is why we have already filed motions in courts across this country to seek temporary restraining orders and injunctions blocking the unlawful and unconstitutional executive orders and actions, including those to ban birthright citizenship; indiscriminately freeze federal funding; cap vital medical research dollars; and grant unauthorized disclosure of Americans’ private records and data.

“Judges granted our motions and issued restraining orders to protect the American people, democracy, and the rule of law. That is and has always been their job. That job is the very core of our legal system. And in this critical moment, we will stand our ground to defend it.”

Attorney General Lopez was joined in this statement by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.