Mission Statement: The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney sees that the laws are faithfully executed and enforced with integrity in order to maintain the rule of law and achieve just results.

The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney is the legal agency responsible for the prosecution of all criminal offenses occurring on the Big Island. The Prosecuting Attorney appoints the necessary staff to represent the people of this community before the District Court, Family Court, Circuit Court, Grand Jury, Intermediate Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii.

The Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys also appear in Federal courts, including the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court, to see that Big Island convictions are not overturned. The agency’s duty and goal is to seek justice in criminal cases in the County of Hawaii.

Appointed Personnel: 29

Permanent Personnel: 29

State-funded Personnel: 15

Federal-funded Personnel: 8

BUDGET

The Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys’ Unit is divided into East, West and North Hawaii teams to handle all criminal cases that occur in their respective districts.

The East Hawaii Team includes deputies designated for the prosecution of domestic and family violence misdemeanors, cases involving child physical and sexual abuse in Hilo and Puna, and cases involving women victims. There is also one attorney designated for Family Court matters and another designated for coordinating community outreach.

Major specialized areas and efforts within the Attorneys’ Unit are:

• The Career Criminal Prosecution Program is a State-funded project designed to get repeat criminal offenders through the system as quickly as possible with the maximum sanctions available. The Career Criminal program is also charged with handling sex offenders.

• Drug prosecution attorneys handle major drug cases and advise the police regarding the commercial promotion of marijuana and the increasing problems with cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and crystal methamphetamine (ice).

• The Felony Unit prosecuted a number of notable trials this past year which included: Tetsuya Yamada, convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to consecutive 20 year prison terms for the murder of two people; and Rodrigo Borreta, convicted of drug charges and sentenced to a 20 year prison term. The Frank Pauline, Jr. trial commenced for the murder of Dana Ireland. The murder and theft conviction of Paul Coronel was affirmed by the Hawaii Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. An appeal claiming ineffective counsel is still pending in the Hawaii Supreme Court. Also affirmed was the armed robbery, theft and assault conviction of Richard Taylor who was sentenced to life in prison. The deputies continue to carry heavy trial and appeal caseloads and respond to police inquiries regarding specific cases at all hours of the Day or night.

• The Screening Unit for East Hawaii is responsible for all screening and charging decisions for East Hawaii cases, including both felony and misdemeanor cases. They also analyze cases for plea negotiations and present appropriate cases to the Grand Jury. The benefit to the County is greater uniformity in charging and faster response to the public.

• Forfeitures remain an uncertain source of revenue for the office. Funds have been used for law enforcement purposes including crime prevention programs such as the McGruff anti-shoplifting program. This year, $21,877 of forfeiture funds were committed to match a $196,895 U.S. Department of Justice Local Law Enforcement Block Grant project. Funds received in fiscal 98-99 totaled $24,213.

• The District/Family Court Unit handles all traffic and misdemeanor cases occurring in the seven District Courts. This caseload includes domestic violence as well as the juvenile cases that are scheduled in the Family Courts. Major increases in the number of driving under the influence cases are beginning to impact the District Court Unit with more cases on calendar and set for trial. The Office has been working closely with the Traffic Enforcement Unit to recertify the breath testing program to ensure effective prosecution.

The Administrative Unit seeks additional state and federal funding for specialized programs, and manages fiscal, personnel, facilities and management information systems for the largest legal agency in our County.

The Clerical Support Unit keeps pace with the word processing and information management needs of the office by extensive use of computer equipment. The clerical support staff is an integral part of successful prosecution. There are eighteen clerical staff handling reception, case-tracking and court-related procedures in the Hilo office and five in the Kona office.

• Continued efforts were made to promote "Restorative Justice." An initiative started was the victim restitution project created by the Big Island Criminal Justice Committee. The restitution project seeks to improve collections and distribution to victims, and facilitates conversion of criminal restitution orders into civil judgements.

• The Office has been active in crime prevention programs targeted at juveniles. Examples include the STEM (Shoplifting Takes Everyone’s Money) Program sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with McGruff, the crime fighting dog; a Department of Education pilot project for 5^th and 6^th graders to teach them about the Family Court system; Operation Keiki ID; and specialized training for the Department of Education and other government agencies.

• The Office co-sponsored a 2 part training in August 1998 and February 1999 for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) program. Initiated in 1995, this program provides specialized training for nurse examiners to perform forensic examinations on sex assault victims. The training was attended by nurses, police officers and sex assault victim advocates from throughout the island and Maui. Training and awareness improve the quality of rape exams and assist in prosecution of offenders.

• The Office assisted in the establishment of the Supervised Visitation Centers for East and West Hawaii. These centers provide a safe and neutral environment where parent visitations can be conducted when a restraining order, pending criminal case or supervised visitation is required.

• The Prosecutor and deputies continue to provide ongoing training for police recruits and reserve officers as well as to other agencies and community organizations.

Special Projects

The Office’s mission has continued to focus on the areas of Community Oriented Prosecution, Domestic and Family Violence, and Violence Against Children.

he mission of Community Oriented Prosecution is to improve the quality of life in Hawaii County by creating and fostering partnerships between the community and other agencies in order to reduce crime. Community Oriented Prosecution offers a major link between the police and judicial branch of government, giving citizens a better sense of community. It encourages cooperation between all people on the Big Island and fosters an atmosphere of community empowerment.

• Interagency coordination for the Domestic Violence Interagency Team (DVIAT).

• Assistance in establishing the Community Coalition for Neighborhood Safety (CCFNS). CCFNS is a coalition of community groups from around the island concerned with preventing crime and increasing the quality of life in Hawaii County through organized education, communication and participation with and by the community.

• Co-sponsorship of the Big Island Community Safety Planning Initiative workshop which developed the Community Empowerment Organization (CEO) project, a multi-agency effort to make the Big Island a safer and better place for all residents.

• Assistance to community groups and various agencies by making presentations on domestic violence, community empowerment, community development, building partnerships and problem solving.

• Work to initiate two Big Island chapters of Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii (VASH), an organization aimed at assisting tourists who are victims of crime or other major incidences.

Domestic and family violence was recognized to be a severe and increasing problem in the County of Hawaii and, thus the Domestic Violence Unit was established within the Office in 1993. This project, initially funded by a federal/state grant, addressed expediting the processing of domestic violence cases and coordinated efforts and information sharing between agencies. The impact of the work done with the grant was very significant and in 1998 when grant funding ended the program was adopted by the County.

Based on the experience of the project, the more quickly a case proceeds and the less time the victim is exposed to the offender, the easier prosecution usually becomes and the better the results. Feedback from victims also indicate that expedited victim contact, improvement in screening time, and vertical prosecution have had a positive impact on victims.

The Legal Subcommittee of DVIAT West Hawaii obtained a federal grant, which led to the establishment of Supervised Visitation Centers in Hilo, Kona, Maui and Kauai. These centers are managed by the YMCA and provide a safe and neutral environment where parents can visit with children when there is a restraining order, pending criminal case, or when other concerns exist about the safety of unsupervised visits.

The DV HURTS (Domestic Violence Hospital Urgent Response Team) program continues to provide an "on call" team to provide support to victims of domestic violence. These volunteers are available

24-hours daily to provide information, referral and advocacy service to victims at the hospital.

Volunteer recruiting and training continues where volunteers assist in victim contacts, clerical and investigative assistance, and DVIAT committee work. In the first six months of 1999 volunteers contributed over 3500 hours or an average of 583 hours per month.

Violence Against Children

In the first year of the grant the Office received a total of 284 cases involving child victims in the Hilo and Puna districts. Of those, 128 cases were sexual assault offenses, 99 were for physical abuse (including felonious assaults) and 57 were for physical abuse (including violations of order and reckless endangering).

One of the primary objectives of this grant is to develop a county-wide protocol between police, prosecutors, child protective workers, schools, family court, guardian ad litems, substance abuse, mental health and other service providers to better process child physical abuse cases. Interagency coordination is essential for effective prosecution.

Deputy prosecutors sit on advisory boards and committees to improve the protection and services provided to children. These include the Children’s Advocacy Center’s Advisory Board, Child Death Review Committee, and Child Welfare Services Advisory Board.