Posted on: Tuesday, April 1, 2003

Ex-trustee's lawsuit dismissed

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A state judge yesterday tossed out a "malicious prosecution" lawsuit by former Bishop Estate Trustee Richard "Dickie" Wong against former Gov. Ben Cayetano, former state Attorneys General Margery Bronster and Earl Anzai and seven others.

The lawsuit filed in October by attorney Eric Seitz on behalf of Wong, his former wife, Mari Stone, and his daughter Kathleen Wong grew out of a series of attempts by Bronster, Anzai and deputies within the attorney general's office to bring theft charges against Wong, his wife and his wife's brother, developer Jeffrey Stone.

The theft case was based on a transaction involving the 1995 sale of Bishop Estate land under the Kalele Kai condominium in Hawai'i Kai.

The attorney general's office succeeded in bringing three separate indictments against Wong before the state Supreme Court in February 2002 instructed the Circuit Court to dismiss all charges against Wong and prevent them from being brought again.

Seitz filed the malicious prosecution lawsuit in state court after federal Judge Alan Kay ruled in May 2002 that Bronster, Anzai and others were acting in their official capacities and therefore could not be sued.

In his ruling yesterday, Circuit Judge Gary Chang said Wong should have included his malicious prosecution claim when he sued Cayetano and the others in federal court but failed to do so.

Chang dismissed all of the parties named in Wong's malicious prosecution lawsuit except for Steve Goodenow and John Tsukiyama, two private investigators who worked with the attorney general's office to try to build a case against Wong.

Chang indicated he may dismiss the two investigators from the suit after he hears more from their attorneys.

After the court hearing yesterday, Seitz said he may appeal Chang's ruling and is awaiting word from the 9th District Court of Appeals on his challenge to Kay's 2002 ruling in federal court.