The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1914-02-06
OPINIONS DIFFER
ON CONVICTIONS.
Judge Matthewman and County
Attorney Heon Hold oppo-
site Views.


Judge John Abort Matthewman Of
the West Hawaii circuit court, which
holds forth at Kailua, Kona, and viii
Liam u. Hcen, deputy county attorney
Of The County of Hawaii, hold opin.
ions dramatically opposed on the ap-
propriatcness Of the verdict Of the Jury
which convicted former Supervisor J,
N, Koomoa Of Kona and John Kahele-
kmu, "a political. henchman Of The
grafting fraternity of West Hawaii.
This state OF affairs was recently
brought out through the efforts Of
Henry W. Kinney Of the Hilo Tril ua.
who wrote to Attorney General Thaycr
for information in regard to certaii
correspondence which was exchanged
on the diverging views Of the Judge duo
deputy county attorney in question
ThRyer wrote to Matthowman on the
question and the latter gave his. con.
sent to making The Correspondence
public.
Opinions Diner.
The astonishing part Of the diverg
ence of opinion between the jurist and
The county official Is that tho judg,
would not have found the grafteri
yuilty had he tcen in the jury box in.
teal Of on the bench, while Hecn i
emphatic in his contention that the
Jury found correctly and that Koomoa
md Kahcl6kuhi were undoubtely
guilty.
Judge Matthewman S letter to the
attorney general follows:
Con Saturday, November 90, tho ltst
lay Of October term, Jury in this
.ourt found J. N. Koomoa and John
hahalelnilu guilty Of conspiracy to de
fraud the County Of Hawaii Of So
teerresentin9 two days pay, at $3.50 per
lay, for which II had been claimed IA.
ialeSuh had been paid for labor not
performed svG
Although surprised at the verdict.
he proceedings had been entirely re,
Ettlar, and ] did not care TO set aside
he verdict simply because would have
'ome TO a different conclusion if serv.
Hg as a juror myself. ] imposed on
zach man \ sentence Of sixty days and
! fine Of $500. They are now in iaiI.
Since the day mentioned the case
has frequently been in my mind. and
entirely of my own Initiative. Il have
decided to bring il to your attention
ior such action as you might think pro
per. Yesterday ! interviewed several
outside parties who had follow the
evidence in the court room and found
u to be the general opinion that an
aoncst zeal for the good work of tho
so-called Probe Commission had. car.
ried the jury over and beyond the 70.
nosition Of reasonable doubt on which
they had been instructed.
Undoubtedly the respective attor-
neys IN the case, Messrs VIM. III. Heen
and Eugene Aiu, will be glad to fur.
nish you with detailed statements of
the evidence, if you should see ct to
make inquiries. I"
Attorney Hens Reply.
Attorney'General Thayer's letter
rom Heen on the same question is as
In reply to your letter of the Cd
instant, concerning the case of Joseph
N. koomoa and John Kahaleknlu. who
were found guilty of conspiracy at the
last hailua term Of court, ] beg to say
chat the verdict Of the, jury was fully
sustained by the evidence. aa :
The facts briefly were that Josepb
~. koomoa at the time of the commits,
sion of the offense was running for tho
ofiiee of supervisor from North and
South Kohala to succeed himself; %
Wright, one of the co-defendants in the
same case and who pleaded guilty To
the charge was road overseer at the
time under Koomoa and haa been re.
luested prior thereto by Koomoa 10
work for him politically; John Kahale.
Sulu was a road labOrer in the district
Vt South Kona al the time; on or about
the day upon which the ofrense was
committed John Kahalekttlu went from
south Kona to North Kona 20 receive
some warrants for road Iaborers which
koomoa had brought over from Hilo:
koomoa nc that time told Kahalekulu
20 do politics for him and also handed
him a note TO Wright telling Wright 10
give Kahalekulu two extra days on the
payroll; Wright upon receiving the note
ave hahalekulu the two extra DAYS
md certified the same upon the payroll
that was sent in to tho county; for the
iwo extra days so given NO work was
performed by Kahalekulu as he and
the other two well know.
" According to my theory Of the case
koonoa S connection with the eonspi.
racy was to secure his reelection az
all costs even to the extent of defraud.
ing the county, and Wright's connec.
tioh was to soc0re the same result with
the idea of receiving appointment as
road overseer through the hands os
koomoa. So far as KahalekuIu was
concerned his purpose was TO obtain
something for nothing. There was evil
aenee that he did politics for Kooinoa
and IL may be that he was entitled to
somc pay from Koomoa, but he certain
ly was not entitled to receive the same
from the county, "s.. ''
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