11-18-2014, 05:21 PM
Why does he still have his job? If any of us had aloud this to happen, we would be unemployed. It's time they are held accountable for endangering the public, for failing to do their jobs.
City prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro stunned Honolulu City Council members Tuesday when he admitted several rape cases were never prosecuted because the office lost track of them.
He appeared before a city council committee to report on procedural changes at the prosecutor’s office.
Soon after he was elected to office two years ago, Kaneshiro said he came across a file of pending cases involving felony sex crimes.
“One deputy prosecutor, there were about 15 to 20 cases that had to be dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired,” Kaneshiro said. His statement hushed the room.
Kaneshiro discovered that the office had not filed charges in as many as 20 cases and, by that time, the statute of limitations had expired and all cases had to be dismissed.
“Can you explain what happened?” KHON2 asked Kaneshiro after the hearing.
“I came into office and some of the deputies had left, and one of the deputies who left office, we went in and we found his case file, and in one of the files, there were sex assault cases that the statute of limitations had expired because the cases were never charged,” Kaneshiro said. “It could have been tried under my predecessor, could have been tried under my tenure, but the question was, it had to be charged.”
Kaneshiro added that some of the cases in the former deputy’s file were taken to trial.
Tuesday’s hearing was just an item for discussion, so councilmembers did not take any action. But they say they plan to work with Kaneshiro to make sure his new tracking system works and that no cases fall through the cracks again.
Kaneshiro told councilmembers that his new system came into place at the end of last year and calls for a file to remain with the deputy in charge of a case, however the case is also added to a database to prevent hard copies from being lost in the shuffle. There is also an alert to tell the office to make timely decisions.
Keeping track of sex assault cases is critical, because after a case is screened, it is handed off to a deputy who, under the old system, was the only one in the office to know about the case.
“That’s why we have a new system, so we will be aware of the cases that come into the office,” Kaneshiro said.
Former city prosecutor Peter Carlisle told KHON2 he would need to take a look at the former deputy’s case file and review the cases in particular before he could comment on the dismissals.
City prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro stunned Honolulu City Council members Tuesday when he admitted several rape cases were never prosecuted because the office lost track of them.
He appeared before a city council committee to report on procedural changes at the prosecutor’s office.
Soon after he was elected to office two years ago, Kaneshiro said he came across a file of pending cases involving felony sex crimes.
“One deputy prosecutor, there were about 15 to 20 cases that had to be dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired,” Kaneshiro said. His statement hushed the room.
Kaneshiro discovered that the office had not filed charges in as many as 20 cases and, by that time, the statute of limitations had expired and all cases had to be dismissed.
“Can you explain what happened?” KHON2 asked Kaneshiro after the hearing.
“I came into office and some of the deputies had left, and one of the deputies who left office, we went in and we found his case file, and in one of the files, there were sex assault cases that the statute of limitations had expired because the cases were never charged,” Kaneshiro said. “It could have been tried under my predecessor, could have been tried under my tenure, but the question was, it had to be charged.”
Kaneshiro added that some of the cases in the former deputy’s file were taken to trial.
Tuesday’s hearing was just an item for discussion, so councilmembers did not take any action. But they say they plan to work with Kaneshiro to make sure his new tracking system works and that no cases fall through the cracks again.
Kaneshiro told councilmembers that his new system came into place at the end of last year and calls for a file to remain with the deputy in charge of a case, however the case is also added to a database to prevent hard copies from being lost in the shuffle. There is also an alert to tell the office to make timely decisions.
Keeping track of sex assault cases is critical, because after a case is screened, it is handed off to a deputy who, under the old system, was the only one in the office to know about the case.
“That’s why we have a new system, so we will be aware of the cases that come into the office,” Kaneshiro said.
Former city prosecutor Peter Carlisle told KHON2 he would need to take a look at the former deputy’s case file and review the cases in particular before he could comment on the dismissals.
