Rutledge attorneys' request turned down
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
A federal magistrate yesterday denied a request by the lawyers for former Hawai'i labor leader Anthony "Tony" Rutledge Sr. and his son Aaron that federal prosecutors turn over transcripts of two separate grand jury proceedings.
The second grand jury proceeding resulted in a conspiracy charge against the father and son.
The Rutledges were indicted Aug. 20 on federal charges accusing them of skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars from a corporation they headed and filing false tax returns on behalf of Star-Beachboys Inc., a beach equipment rental company.
They have pleaded not guilty and go to trial in late February.
Lawyers Jeffrey Rawitz, Michael Green and David Gierlach, who represent Tony Rutledge, Aaron Rutledge and Star-Beachboys Inc. respectively, told U.S. Magistrate Barry Kurren they plan to file a request that the indictment against the Rutledges be dismissed on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. The transcripts are needed, the lawyers said, to bolster their forthcoming dismissal request.
The three lawyers said the U.S. attorney's office worked for more than a decade to try to bring a criminal case against Tony Rutledge and then "berated" Aaron Rutledge in front of the first grand jury for citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The Rutledge lawyers argued that the first grand jury proceedings were "tainted" and said they believe that transcripts from the first proceeding were given to members of the second grand jury, thereby tainting that panel as well.
But Edward Groves, a special attorney with the U.S. Justice Department's Tax Division in Washington, told Kurren that the transcripts from the first grand jury proceeding were not provided to the second panel.
Kurren said grand jury transcripts are turned over to the defense attorneys prior to trial only under "extraordinary circumstances." He said the Rutledge attorneys appear to have enough material on which to submit their claim of prosecutorial misconduct without a court order directing that the transcripts and internal documents belonging to the U.S. attorney's office be handed over.
Rawitz said after the hearing that he expects to file the dismissal request based on prosecutorial misconduct within a week to 10 days.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
