Former City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro SUES attorney Myles Breiner over "Put Up or Shut Up" comment |
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Filed TODAY in Federal court, former City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro sued attorney Myles Breiner for defamation and workplace harassment. The lawsuit alleges Mr. Breiner's "Put Up or Shut Up" comment on KHON2 news caused:
1) impeachment actions from one of Mr. Breiner's former clients
2) expansion of a Federal investigation from colleague Kathy Kealoha to Mr. Kaneshiro himself.
3) emotional anguish and distress deserving of financial compensation |
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Mr. Breiner declined to make an official statement to A-1's Jail Mail publication.
But in the alternate, readers may relive the moment Mr. Breiner said the historic line, by clicking below:
CLICK ME
The clip, which is only a minute, has Mr. Breiner's full statement of:
"There is always the threat of re-indictment, but my attitude is ‘Mr. Kaneshiro, put up or shut up.’ I’m fed up with this." |
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Real Estate Profesionals Tamlyn Toyama-Kam and Traci Isara give you the full details on buying at Ulana Ward Village:
Unit Breakdown: - Studios 289 sq. ft. - $271,000 to $355,400
- 1-bedrooms 527 to 530 sq. ft. - $400,500 to $556,300
- 2-bedrooms 676 to 755 sq. ft. - $504,100 to $650,300
- 3-bedrooms 854 to 1,001 sq. ft. - $550,000 to $717,400
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Oahu Judiciary Pulls About Face on $250 "Court Costs" Fees Targeted Only on Bail Companies |
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In more positive news, A-1's jail mail feature on court costs several weeks ago has led to an internal memo banning the unfair practice.
In the memo, senior judiciary stakeholders cite three reasons for the about face on fees:
1) Charging court costs of $250 for bail bond reinstatements and/or forfeiture set asides discourage bail companies from assisting indigent clients. The bail bond industry was created to help those that did not have the full cash amount, but instead could pay a 10% fee for a bail out.
2) Court Costs are never charged to the Intake Service Center or cash bail posting defendant when reinstatements occurs, so to target bail bond companies with the fees is discriminatory.
3) Allowing bail companies to re-enter the small bond market will reduce jail overcrowding on misdemeanor charges and decelerate the legislature's chipping away of judicial discretion through poorly written bills like HB 1567
* As of March 31, 2022 (yesterday), the bill was amended to remove additional judicial powers; this draft removes a judge's ability to detain non-violent class C felony defendants as well. |
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CLICK HERE TO VIEW ENTIRE BILL
HB1567 seeks to reduce jail overcrowding by removing a judge's discretion to set cash bail conditions on traffic offenses, violations, and nonviolent petty misdemeanors; and yes, as of yesterday class C non-violent felonies are included. |
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Did you know?
The latest published report by the Department of Public Safety confirms that as of June 28th, 2021, OCCC housed 45 pre-trial misdemeanants. 40 males, and 5 females. Although HB 1567 aims to reduce the state jail population through releasing these 45 inmates, it's unclear how many of the misdemeanants are there for non-violent offenses. For example, I suspect a majority of the 45, are abuse of household member, assault 3, or violations of a protective/restraining order misdemeanants; the current version of HB1567 excludes VIOLENT charges. |
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Food for thought:
If the Hawaii Community Bail Fund simply used the money it posted on the release of Mark Sykap - the brother of Iremamber Sykap, the 16 year old whom was tragically shot dead in a police chase last year - I'm confident all 45 misdemeanants could have been released via cash bail.
But let's be real, HB1567 legislation doesn't help rehabilitate or shelter low income inmates post release. There are no statistics on how many of the 45 are Native Hawaiians, so the help to that community is unclear. Lastly, incarceration costs are grossly miscalculated, since fixed costs like ACO salaries, benefits, and overtime account for close to 70% of the budget (2015 VERA INSTITUTE report on "The Price of Prisons"). Reducing the population by 45, won't make a material difference to the burn rate of taxpayer dollars. Secondly, the legislation is a redundancy, since the Department of Public safety already has emergency release powers when overcrowding becomes acute.
I've always wondered about the roots of the power struggle between the legislature and the judiciary. Maybe civil beat can do a report on the cold relationship between the two. We already know from the mandatory minimums fiasco of the 1990's, that it's counterproductive to remove judicial discretion. We'll see how all this shakes out.
Below is the specific section confirming 45 pre-trial misdemeanants total are in custody at the time of the report's publishing ⬇️. PTM = Pre-trial Misdemeanor. |
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April Fools!!!!!
This issue of jail mail is a farce for April fools. 🤣
No, Mr. Breiner is NOT getting sued by former City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro and of course no memo was published about banning court costs charged only to bail companies.
As a bail agent, I'll die on this hill, knowing that the practice is unfair. But if you're not the one constantly paying $250 a pop, its hard for outsiders to really internalize the unfairness.
The arguments mocking HB 1567 are 100% true though. There really are just 45 pre-trial misdemeanants (June 2021), most of which presumably would be excluded from release due to charges of violence. The Hawaii Bail Fund could simply post cash for each of the 45 misdemeanants, side stepping any need for legislation. But if the non-profit were to do so, I suspect legislators would quickly want to regulate them as many other states have already begun. Government certification requirements and bail out caps have begun to be implemented in other jurisdictions.
Mark Sykap's $30,000 was forfeited or reset; its unclear since the ecourt kokua filing document to confirm forfeiture is sealed. Bail was reset to $30,100, Mr. Sykap was taken into custody, and he remains at OCCC pending 4 different cases. |
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