"That is probably the major issue that I am going to have to contend with for myself," said Senate Majority Leader Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), the chairwoman of the committee.

"There still are outstanding concerns," said Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku).

The Judiciary Committee reviews nominations before they reach the full Senate, which will likely consider Bissen's confirmation early next week. Several senators said a negative recommendation from the committee could make the vote close, but Bissen continues to have deep support, particularly on Maui and from the Lingle administration.

Bissen, with his wife, Isabella, and several cousins sitting behind him at the hearing, apologized for causing senators any doubts about his nomination and said, that in hindsight, he should have disclosed a 1996 appeals court decision on a questionnaire he filled out for the Judicial Selection Commission.

The Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawai'i overturned firearms convictions against a Maui man and sent a terroristic threatening charge back to a lower court in 1996 after ruling that Bissen's conduct as prosecutor denied the man a fair trial. The Hawai'i Supreme Court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel investigated Bissen but took no disciplinary action.

Sidney Ayabe, the chair of the Judicial Selection Commission, said in a letter to the committee yesterday that the case was discussed in interviews with Bissen before the commission approved Bissen's application for a judgeship. The Hawai'i State Bar Association also reviewed the case last Saturday, at the urging of senators, and reaffirmed its rating that Bissen is qualified.

Bissen, a former top deputy to state Attorney General Mark Bennett, is the interim director of the state Department of Public Safety. The emergence of the 1996 appeals court decision delayed his initial hearing last Friday and prompted senators to look more closely into his legal background.

Under questioning from Hee yesterday, Bissen said he could not recall a 1997 appeals court decision which found that parts of his closing argument in a theft and bail-jumping case were improper. The appeals court, which upheld the lower court's convictions, ruled that Bissen should not have trivialized the defendant's right to a jury trial but found that his comments were harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

Several of Bissen's colleagues in the legal community gave him their highest praise. In one letter, Marie Milks, a retired circuit judge, said she regretted not speaking publicly last year before the Senate voted against Ted Hong, the state's former labor negotiator, for a Big Island judgeship. She wrote that there was nothing in the 1996 appeals court decision that "causes me to conclude that Mr. Bissen conducted himself in an unethical manner or to suggest that he lacks the competence and integrity to serve as a judge."

His friends and family said Bissen has the character and roots on Maui to be an excellent judge for his home island. "This man has a fantastic heart," said Bruce Campbell, an attorney who went to law school with Bissen at the University of Hawai'i.

Bissen, a former Marine, told the committee that his experience in court as a prosecutor and with prisons at the Department of Public Safety gives him insight into the criminal justice system. "I have shown that I'm not one-sided," he said.

Sen. Shan Tsutsui, D-4th (Kahului), said he doubts the appeals court cases raised during the hearing will have much impact on other senators unless the Judiciary Committee votes against Bissen's nomination.

"We're strongly behind him," Tsutsui said. "We think he's addressed any concerns. You have to judge a person on their whole package."