Taxpayers may foot officer's legal bills
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
The city's civil and criminal legal offices will be pitted against each other in court today over statements an indicted former police major made to the Honolulu Police Commission when he asked that taxpayers foot the bill for his defense in the police cellblock food scandal case.
City prosecutors want to know if Maj. Jeffrey Owens lied to the commission before the seven-member panel voted unanimously in closed session on June 26 for public money to be spent for his defense.
But the city Corporation Counsel, which represents the commission, has asked that a prosecution subpoena for transcripts of the proceeding be quashed because it would violate Owens' right to privacy and could chill future investigations by the commission.
Owens and former Assistant Police Chief Rafael Fajardo are accused of buying fancy food and doughnuts for police officers with money meant to buy inexpensive meals for detained criminal suspects. An O'ahu grand jury indicted the officers last year on felony second degree theft charges. Both have pleaded not guilty and a trial is set for Aug. 19.
In court documents, prosecutor Randall Lee says Owens told the commission that the money in question paid for quality meals that were fed to prisoners to keep them content.
But Owens told police investigators that he authorized civilian workers to buy meals for officers because it would boost their morale and make them less likely to assault prisoners, according to a transcript of police testimony before the grand jury.
The misuse of money allegedly occurred between January 1995 and September 2000, when Fajardo was in charge 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.
One police investigator estimated that the officers had spent about $21,000 on food eaten by police. Former Police Chief Michael Nakamura and Police Chief Lee Donohue ate some of the free meals, according to witnesses, but both said they did not know the food was purchased with money that was meant to buy meals for prisoners.
The Police Commission is scheduled to vote in closed session on July 31 whether to approve public money for Fajardo's defense. Commission chairman Leonard Leong said public money routinely pays legal bills for officers who are accused of wrongdoing while on duty and performing work related to that duty.
A civilian food service worker pleaded guilty in December to second-degree theft charges in the case and agreed to testify against Owens and Fajardo. A former police detective pleaded no contest to the same charge in October and also agreed to testify.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
