Perjury charges against former trustee rejected once more
| • | Mike Leidemann: Pursuit of Wong seems like a vendetta |
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
For the second time, a state judge yesterday threw out perjury charges against former Kamehameha Schools trustee Richard "Dickie" Wong, clearing him of his final criminal charges.
Advertiser library photo • 1997
His lawyer said he hopes the ruling will bring an end to what he called the state's harassment of Wong.
"Enough is enough," ex-Sen. Richard Wong said.
The Hawai'i Supreme Court is still considering an appeal by the state attorney general on the first dismissal of a 1999 perjury indictment tossed out by Circuit Judge Michael Town last year.
But Town's decision yesterday means Wong no longer faces any pending criminal charges.
The judge ruled that the circuit trial court does not have jurisdiction to handle the second perjury case because the first is on appeal to the high court.
Eric Seitz, Wong's attorney, said he hopes Wong won't have to return to court to face any more criminal charges.
"I would hope that with the beating they're (the state) taking, they'll just let it go," Seitz said. "Even in the context of the appeal that something is left alive, I would hope that they will just let it go because, at this point, it's just absurd."
Wong, a former state Senate president, also said he hopes the attorney general's office will halt efforts to prosecute him. "Enough is enough," he said.
Deputy Attorney General Joanne Ha'o said her office would "study our options" should the Supreme Court rule in favor of the state.
"But I think it would be fair to say we would (pursue the charges)," she said.
The state is asking that the first perjury indictment be reinstated.
The perjury cases are an outgrowth of the state's investigation, starting in 1997, into five former trustees' management of the multibillion-dollar trust, formerly known as the Bishop Estate.
The investigation first led to separate theft charges against Wong and former trustee Henry Peters related to the 1995 sale of trust land under the Kahele Kai condominium in Hawai'i Kai.
Town dismissed the charges against the two men in 1999, but Peters was reindicted on the theft charge. That charge also was dropped by Town.
In 1999, Wong was indicted on charges that he lied about the land deal to the grand jury, which returned the land sale theft indictment. Town threw out that perjury indictment last year.
The state appealed the dismissal and obtained the second perjury indictment, again alleging that Wong lied to the same grand jury.
Yesterday's ruling marked the fifth time that Town has thrown out charges against Wong and Peters.
Seitz yesterday said the state never should have indicted Wong in the first place.
"There never has been any factual basis for any criminal charges," he said. "It's totally unprecedented for a string of indictments like this to be dismissed."
Seitz said Wong is eager to put all of this behind him.
"There has been a lot of anxiety for his family because of these repeated prosecutions, and he hopes it's over. And so do I," Seitz said.
Wong, Peters, Gerard Jervis, Lokelani Lindsey and Oswald Stender were removed as trustees in May 1999 following the state's investigation .
The estate is now being run by five new trustees appointed by the Probate Court.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
