Posted on: Friday, December 7, 2001

Court authorities undecided over Yoshimura's fate

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

YOSHIMURA: Has not practiced law recently

Authorities with the Hawai'i Supreme Court want to suspend City Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura from practicing law as punishment for his 1999 traffic mishap and lies, but are wrangling over how long that hiatus should last.

The disciplinary board's hearing committee on Nov. 2 recommended a one-month suspension for Yoshimura, who waited nearly two years to confess that he had a drink before he inadvertently struck a parked car.

But on Nov. 26, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the staff working for the disciplinary board, asked that the suspension be extended to a year and a day.

The Hawai'i Supreme Court will later determine what punishment to impose on the council chairman.

Yoshimura declined to comment on any of the recommendations, which won't be decided for another seven weeks. He has noted in the past that he is inactive as an attorney and has not practiced law recently.

However, his attorney, William Harrison questioned whether there are political motivations for the timing of the appeal and its release to the media.

"I'm hoping that they're not motivated by politics," he said. "He (Yoshimura) is running for office. I hope they're not going about this to discredit him.

"The counsel, I think, is being abusive," Harrison added. "He made a public admission in front of the media, admitting his mistake, and he apologized to his constituents. We really want to put this behind us.

"They had a full opportunity to present their side, and they're unhappy with the decision," he said "The committee has been given clear and convincing evidence, and have responded... it's going to be hard for the counsel to get the (disciplinary) board to rule otherwise."

Yoshimura has repeatedly said that he has apologized for his mistakes and worked to take responsibility for his actions and change his life for the better since the accident.

The panel noted in recommending a one-month suspension that Yoshimura recently recanted his false statements. "Respondent was sincere and remorseful and no doubt has suffered substantial embarrassment as a result of his conduct," the report said.

Brian Means, the board's assistant disciplinary counsel, said his office favors extending the suspension to one year and one day. This will mean Yoshimura will have to prove he should be reinstated, according to the American Bar Association standards that guide the court in determining disciplinary sanctions.

"If you're suspended for a year or less, reinstatement is automatic," Means said, citing the bar association standards. "If it's a year or more, up to five years, you have to prove you're rehabilitated. Given the nature of the professional misconduct, we believe that would be warranted."

The full disciplinary board will hear the case Jan. 31. That 18-member body will make a recommendation to the high court, which will issue the final verdict, Means said.

In August, Yoshimura held a news conference to acknowledge that on July 13, 1999, he had a drink at a restaurant before he hit a parked car near Ward Centre and drove off.

After the accident, Yoshimura had maintained steadfastly that he was coming directly from work when the accident happened and that he thought he had backed into a utility pole.

In his later confession, Yoshimura acknowledged he had one drink but was afraid of what people would think if he told the truth. He was later cited and fined $35 for leaving the scene of the accident.

The hearing committee concluded in its recommendation for the one-month sanction that Yoshimura's conduct "reflects adversely on the position of public trust he held."

But the committee judged Yoshimura's "lies" more severely.

"Instead of being forthright, (Yoshimura) repeatedly lied... about the events surrounding the incident," the committee said in its finding. "The lies were compounded. That is deceit... forthrightness and honesty are the principles of integrity and the very foundation of the legal profession. (Yoshimura's) conduct undermined that foundation."

However, the disciplinary counsel's office argued that a month's suspension would communicate neither the seriousness of the misconduct nor show the community that Yoshimura's "dishonesty and lies will not be tolerated."

The appeal petition quotes Thomas Carlyle, 19th-century essayist and historian, questioning whether "there can be a more horrible object in existence than an eloquent man not speaking the truth."

The accident and his statements were not Yoshimura's first political misstep. His tenure on the City Council also has been marred by controversy over his expenditures of campaign money, disputes that led him in August to pay the state Campaign Spending Commission a fine of $3,532.

Advertiser staff writer Robbie Dingeman contributed to this report.