August and Philip Lowenthal, one of the state's pre-eminent criminal defense attorneys, shared a Wailuku law practice for more than 20 years, until August was selected for the bench in 2002.

The sexual assault case of James "Ron" Gonsalves, deacon at St. Ann Church in Waihe'e, was the first time Lowenthal had come before his former law partner in court.

August announced he was stepping out of the case during a bail hearing for Gonsalves, who remains in custody at the Maui Community Correctional Center with bail set at $790,000. The matter was transferred to Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto, who will preside over the bail hearing Monday.

A Maui grand jury indictment charged Gonsalves with 30 counts of first-degree sexual assault and 32 counts of third-degree sexual assault for incidents that allegedly occurred from June 2002 to June 2005, when the boy was 12 to 15 years old. Some of the alleged assaults were reported to have occurred at the church.

Gonsalves was arrested Wednesday and yesterday pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial is set for Sept. 26.

He was named administrator at St. Ann Church in 1999 and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the church until Honolulu Diocense officials placed him on paid leave June 22, the same day church officials learned of the allegations.

August did not reveal the reasons for his decision to recuse himself from the case, but after today's hearing, Lowenthal's law clerk and spokesman Ben Lowenthal noted the longstanding relationship between the two, and said judicial conduct rules gave August had no choice but to step aside to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.