Opinion ID: 2633655
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Conviction, sentence, and direct appeal

Text: On May 26, 1998, an O`ahu grand jury returned an indictment against Kahapea and his codefendants. The indictment charged Kahapea with: (1) seventeen counts of theft in the first degree in violation of Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 708-830.5(1)(a) (1993) (counts 1-8, 11-17, 19, and 21-25); (2) five counts of theft in the second degree in violation of HRS § 708-831(1)(b) (1993) (counts 9-10, 18, 20, and 26); (3) eleven counts of forgery in the second degree in violation of HRS § 708-852 (1993) (counts 27-37); (4) five counts of unlawful ownership or operation of business in violation of HRS §§ 842-2(3) (1993) and 842-3 (1993) (counts 38-42); (5) one count of money laundering in violation of HRS § 708-8120(1)(a) (1993) (count 43); (6) one count of money laundering in violation of HRS §§ 708A-3(a)(1)(A) (Supp.1995) and (d)(2) (Supp.1995) (count 44); (7) one count of bribery in violation of HRS § 710-1040(1)(b) (1993) (count 46); and (8) two counts of failure to report income in violation of HRS § 842-11 (1993) (counts 47-48). [3] Count 45 did not involve Kahapea. From May 1, 2000 to August 2, 2000, the circuit court conducted a jury trial. In its verdicts signed July 26, 27, 28, and 31 and August 1, 2000, the jury found Kahapea: (1) guilty as charged of counts 1-8, 11-12, 15-19, 21-25, 27-44, and 46-48; (2) guilty of the included offense of theft in the second degree with respect to counts 13 and 14; and (3) not guilty of counts 20 and 26. [4] After the circuit court read the verdicts, Kahapea orally moved for merger of the theft charges pursuant to HRS § 701-109 (1993). [5] After a hearing thereon, the circuit court ruled that at . . . the time of sentencing,... Kahapea w[ould] be sentenced to counts 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 19, 22, and 24, while counts 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, and 23 would be[] deemed to have been merged as a matter of law. [6] On August 17, 2000, the prosecution moved for consecutive terms of imprisonment. On October 19, 2000, the circuit court conducted a hearing regarding Kahapea's sentence. The court entered oral findings of fact (FOFs) as follows: Kahapea flagrantly, without conscience and without shame, took advantage of his position as [PMB] chief in the [City]'s Housing Department to manipulate our state's relocation laws and orchestrate the theft of $5.8 million [from] the City ..., the taxpayers of the City ... and the [plaintiff-appellee] State [of Hawai`i [hereinafter, the prosecution]]. He did so by means of a fraudulent and deceitful bid-rigging scheme and by dishonestly submitting fraudulent invoices for payment on the Ewa Villages relocation project. . . . Kahapea's scheme constituted the largest single theft of taxpayers' money by a public official in our state. His criminal conduct spanned . . . almost three years [and] involved the loss of millions of dollars during the most recessive economic period in the state's history. He robbed the people of [`]Ewa of the opportunity to revitalize their neighborhood [and] negatively impacted the [City]'s plans to build affordable housing units for the people of O[`]ahu, depriving them of the opportunity for home ownership. . . . Kahapea lied to his friends . . . about what the money was going to be used for, and paid his friends back with money he stole from the taxpayers. He involved his stepdaughter . . . by having her fraudulently type documents for him, documents he knew would be used to deceive and steal taxpayers' money. He used his son . . . and his nephew ... to cash cashier's checks he knew were illegal proceeds from his criminal action. ... Kahapea used his years of experience in the Housing Department, his specialized training, his knowledge of the regulations and even the recognition he received as employee of the year to betray the trust of his fellow workers. He lied to his secretary by providing her with false information to type .... He lied to his fellow employees in the finance department about the need to expedite the processing of City checks, ostensibly to help contractors meet the payroll but in reality for his own personal use and aggrandizement. He lied to his supervisors when they tried to find out what was going on. . . . [H]e used taxpayers'[] money to bankroll his high stakes gambling activities ..., to lavish on himself and his friends thousands of dollars in hostess bars, and to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into businesses with a far-fetched dream of making a fortune ... . (Emphases added.) The circuit court then sentenced Kahapea, inter alia, [7] to five consecutive terms of imprisonment of ten years each, [8] one term for each of counts 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12. On July 11, 2001, the prosecution requested an award of restitution against Kahapea. The circuit court found that Kahapea would have owed $1,705,974.00 but, due to Kahapea's then-insolvency, denied the prosecution's motion. On January 18, 2002, the circuit court entered its order denying restitution and finding in relevant part that[,] as a result of [Kahapea]'s illegal activities, [he] received for his benefit $1.7 million in public funds from the City. On February 27, 2002, Kahapea filed his notice of appeal to this court, alleging that (1) the circuit court erred in admitting testimony about his gambling history, (2) he was denied effective assistance of counsel, and (3) he did not voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently waive his right to testify. State v. Kahapea, No. 23882, summary disposition order at 1 (Haw. Oct. 6, 2004), 98 P.3d 246, 105 Hawai`i 375, 2004 WL 2245226 [hereinafter,  Kahapea I ]. On October 6, 2004, this court affirmed the circuit court's October 19, 2000 judgment. Id. at 3, 2004 WL 2245226, .