Posted on: Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Test case set for Megan's law

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A man found guilty this month of sexually assaulting two girls will serve as a test case for efforts to revive a sex offender registry that would let the public see who has been convicted of a sex offense, where they live in Hawai'i and other information about them.

The state used to post sex offenders' names, photos and personal information on the Internet. But it closed the site in 2001 when the Hawai'i Supreme Court struck down a key portion of the state statute, known as Megan's law, after 7-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was kidnapped, raped and killed in 1994 by a convicted sex offender.

The high court concluded that Hawai'i's version of the law was unconstitutional because it didn't provide for hearings to let offenders show they are no longer a danger to society.

Voters will be asked this fall whether the state constitution should be changed to ensure the public's access to personal information about certain convicted sex offenders and allow the Legislature to establish guidelines for such access.

If the amendment is approved, lawmakers will be able to decide what kinds of sex offenders would be immediately placed on the public list and whether some should receive a hearing beforehand. The proposed constitutional amendment would also allow offenders on the public list to petition to be removed.

The proposed constitutional amendment was a compromise between House leaders and state Attorney General Mark Bennett. As part of the deal, Bennett said law enforcement officials would proceed with hearings currently required to give offenders a chance to argue against being placed on the list.

The test case involves Edward Kealanahele Jr., who will be sentenced Sept. 8 by Circuit Judge Richard Perkins. Kealanahele will be the first to have an additional hearing at the same time to decide whether he represents a danger to the community significant enough to allow public release of information about him.

City Deputy Prosecutor Douglas Chin said the selection of Kealanahele's case to include a special hearing at the time of his sentencing was "absolutely and completely random."

"Two weeks ago we finally decided how to implement the new procedures," Chin said. He said a decision was made by the prosecutor's office to start holding the public disclosure hearings at the time of sentencing for all newly convicted sex offenders.

While disclosure of information pertains to all convicted sex offenders, Chin said, it will be far easier to hold hearings for those recently convicted rather than "trying to being someone back from 20 to 30 years ago."

The need for such hearings could be short-lived if voters adopt the proposed constitutional amendment this fall, Chin said.

"To us, having to hold a hearing to decide whether someone's public record should be made public doesn't make much sense," Chin said. That's because the public has access to court files about people convicted of sex crimes, Chin said.

Advertiser staff writer Lynda Arakawa contributed to this report. Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.