Donor cases won't be moved to lower court

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Nine defendants accused of illegally funneling money to Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign committee tried unsuccessfully yesterday to have their misdemeanor cases transferred to a lower court.

A defense attorney and a prosecutor each said the other appeared to be "form-shopping," or trying to influence the outcome of the cases by steering them to a particular courtroom or judge.

The defendants include a top Hawai'i County elections official and employees and associates of the R.M. Towill engineering company.

"As much as possible, it's important that these cases be treated as the normal misdemeanor case," attorney Renee Yuen said.

Deputy City Prosecutor Randal Lee said Yuen may be "looking for a particular situation involving a particular judge who may be a little lenient toward these cases."

Neither side mentioned the names of any judges. Several judges have granted defendants the chance to wipe their records clean in similar cases. But last week Circuit Judge Steven Alm issued the first jail term since the campaign probe began nearly two years ago.

Circuit Judge Dan Kochi rejected Yuen's request that the cases be sent to District Court, where most misdemeanors are heard.

The defendants are scheduled to enter pleas on Monday. They include Towill executives Nancy K. Matsuno, Kenneth T. Sakai, Roy Tsutsui, and retired Towill controller Robert Y. Ko.

The others are John Adversalo and Daniel K. Rosario, along with Donn S. Mende, Jay Mende and their mother, Masae Mende. Jay Mende is Hawai'i County's deputy clerk, whose responsibilities include overseeing Big Island elections.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.