Police panel won't pay legal bills in food case
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
A retired Honolulu Police Department assistant chief charged with felony theft in a cellblock food scandal will have to pay for his legal defense after the Honolulu Police Commission Wednesday voted against providing taxpayer money for his attorney fees.
Commission chairman Leonard Leong said the commission voted to deny using public money to pay legal bills for former Assistant Chief Rafael Fajardo.
An O'ahu grand jury last year indicted Fajardo and former Maj. Jeffrey Owens on felony theft charges for allegedly buying fancy meals and snacks for police officers with money that was supposed to be used to feed criminal suspects held at the main police station. Both have pleaded not guilty and a trial is set for next month.
Leong, who was not at Wednesday's closed-door, one-hour commission hearing, said he was not provided details on why the commission voted to deny Fajardo. Leong declined to reveal the vote tally, but said Fajardo needed favorable votes from four of the seven commissioners. Only four commissioners attended Wednesday's meeting.
On June 26, the commission voted unanimously to have taxpayers pay Owens' legal bills.
In the past, Leong said the commission has declined to provide money for officers' legal bills, but generally the commission votes in favor of paying officers' court bills.
"It has gone both ways in the past," Leong said. "Generally we vote to fund more than we deny. Each case has its individual merits."
Fajardo's attorney, Howard Luke, said his client "denies the allegations of theft brought against him" and said his client has given "36 years of unblemished service to the city."
The alleged misuse of money occurred between January 1995 and September 2000, when Fajardo was in command of the Central Receiving Division and Owens was his subordinate. The division handles people who are arrested, processed at the main police station and detained in a cellblock while awaiting a court appearance.
