HPD case records to be opened for review

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

The public has a right to see confidential court records filed in a lawsuit against the Honolulu Police Department by an HPD detective alleging corruption and misconduct in the department's supersecret criminal intelligence unit, a federal magistrate has ruled.

"It's a ringing endorsement of the public's right to access to court records," said Jeff Portnoy, attorney for The Advertiser, which petitioned the court to open the records.

Federal Magistrate Leslie Kobayashi made the ruling in a civil lawsuit filed by HPD detective Kenneth Kamakana against the city, HPD Chief Lee Donohue and HPD Capt. Milton Olmos.

Kamakana alleges his civil rights were violated when the Police Department transferred him out of the Criminal Intelligence Unit and investigated him for alleged criminal and administrative wrong-doing after he gave evidence of corruption and misconduct to federal authorities.

All parties in the case agreed to a protective order that placed most of the records filed in the suit under seal, but in her ruling made public yesterday, Kobayashi said the public should have been given a chance to argue against the secrecy.

Kobayashi ruled: "In the absence of a showing of good cause for confidentiality, judicial records remain freely accessible by the public."

The magistrate ruled that all records which parties in the case claim should be withheld from the public now must be submitted by Jan. 9 under seal to private attorney Clyde Matsui, acting as a court-appointed "special master" in the case, along with arguments justifying their confidentiality.

A list of the records must be submitted to The Advertiser, which has until Jan. 16 to argue against sealing of the material. Matsui will then submit a report to the magistrate.

The parties in the case can appeal Kobayashi's ruling to U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway, who is hearing the Kamakana lawsuit, scheduled for trial in June 2003.

Kamakana, a decorated 29-year HPD veteran, filed his lawsuit last year.

To date, the city has spent more than $800,000 defending the case. A request for additional money is expected to be made soon to the City Council.