(PNN) ISERI RESPONDS TO ARTICLE BUT FAILS TO ADDRESS CORE RAWLS CHARGES

(PNN) Former Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri responded Sunday to our Saturday article, for the first time publicly commenting in detail and in writing on former Staff Internal Auditor Ron Rawls' charges of a conspiracy to coverup wrongdoing on the part of her and County Auditor Ernie Pasion by attempting to withhold information from a report to the county council in the Fuel Audit or "Fuel-gate" scandal.

Though she failed to address specific charges Iseri gave a blanket denial of wrongdoing writing that "the first I heard of any purported illegal gas usage by me or anyone in my office was when Mr. Rawls filed his claim. I would be more than happy to state that there was no wrongdoing on my part or anyone else and hope that these allegations, made my a party I hardly knew, are taken to court and the truth is revealed."


In two emails Sunday (included in full below) Iseri denies also disputes accounts in local and Honolulu newspapers as well as Honolulu television news programs, various on-line publications and sources close to the situation that, as we wrote on Saturday, "(d)espite the efforts of former Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Shaylene Iseri- Carvalho (no relation) to indict the mayor- an effort that won her admonishment from the judge for not having enough votes on the grand jury but moving ahead as if she did- no one has been prosecuted in the case... yet."


She also addresses "the mens rea issue" although she apparently did not understand that the portion of the article dealing with the issue was quoted directly from Ron Rawls' "claim."


Other than the statement above and her discussion of what Rawls characterized as "the mens rea problem" itself, Iseri failed to address Rawls' actual charges- allegations that she and Pasion conspired to withhold information from the county council that was contained in the original investigatory report by an outside law firm and also sought to limit the investigation by covering-up similar alleged misdeeds on the part of others in county government... including Iseri herself.


We did err in saying that Iseri was on the council and voted to appoint Pasion as County Auditor. In fact Iseri had just left the council to become Prosecuting Attorney when the vote was taken. Unfortunately, due to a copy and past error, a sentence from a earlier draft wound up back in the article that was published and we have corrected the error on-line and noted it at the end of the piece. We apologize for any confusion.


Other than that we stand by everything that was published.


Here are Iseri's emails in full (all "sic"):


Email #1

Andy,


Your conspiracy claims are so bizarre. It's very apparent that you choose to publish delusions, instead of facts. It reminds me of another blogger who writes trash with no support. While I normally don't pay attention to your fiction stories, it was sent to me by Ken Taylor, who truly cares about the truth and people of Kauai, to read and address---


Let me address your points in order:


" Despite the efforts of former Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Shaylene Iseri- Carvalho (no relation) to indict the mayor- an effort that won her admonishment from the judge for not having enough votes on the grand jury but moving ahead as if she did- no one has been prosecuted in the case... yet."


First, I never pursued charges against the Mayor.  Neither me nor anyone from my office ever presented any charges against the Mayor.  Please provide your PROOF OF FACTS of this statement. I bet you never will because it doesn't exist. It's another figment of your thwarted imagination.


Second, there was never any admonishment by the judge for not having votes on the grand jury. Please provide your PROOF OF FACTS of this statement, especially a videotaped-recording of the proceeding wherein all judges's decisions are kept. I bet you never will because it doesn't exist. It's another figment of your thwarted imagination.


Every intelligent person would know that if the grand jury isn't presented a State of Hawaii v. Bernard Carvalho Jr. Case to consider, then most definitively they could not have the opportunity to vote to indict.


"...no surprise to anyone who has paid attention over the years- Pasion, who was appointed to the then-newly created Auditor's position with the votes of Rapozo and Iseri when she was on the council. Please provide your PROOF OF FACTS of this statement. I bet you never will because it doesn't exist. It's another figment of your thwarted imagination.


I never participated in the selection of Ernesto Pasion as the County Auditor.  He was appointed unanimously by council members other than me--even by council members who you favor. (Chuckle). I knew Ernie Pasion as the Elections Clerk, then later as the Deputy County Clerk. I again, never selected him as the Deputy Clerk, nor had any input in that decision. I never  had much communications with him when I was a council member because our work requests all went through the County Clerk and it was reassigned to other staff members. I've never been to his house, I don't  even know where he lives, he's never given me any campaign contribution, we don't even go to the same church nor do we now, nor ever did, socialize. I rarely ever saw him then, and I rarely see him now.


" The results of the McCorriston-led investigations were memorialized in two reports; one regarding the mayor's use of fuel and the other regarding a parks employee's alleged misappropriation of fuel. At the outset, I note that McCorriston's May 1, 2012 report regarding the mayor's use of fuel concludes that the mayor may or may not have possessed the mens rea required to support a criminal case against him. The McCorriston report also recommended referral to law enforcement (in this case, the state's Attorney General) if the County Council decided to seek further investigation into the lack of mens rea problem."

According to you, with respect to the mens rea issue, the persons involved in the investigation recommended referral to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. As you may not know, the Hawaii Jury Instructions 3.16 ( quoted below) specifically address the mens rea element of a crime as rarely would you have a case where you would have direct evidence of a suspect's state of mind, in that a suspect would admit, " I wanted to steal gas, it was my intent to steal gas, and I stole gas. "  If this was the requirement, I am sure we would almost NEVER have convictions.  Therefore, the law requires that the mens rea and/or state of mind requirement can be met by circumstantial evidence. The mind of a suspect may be read from his/her actions and all the inferences drawn therefrom. 

3.16 STATE OF MIND - PROOF BY CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
The state of mind with which a person commits an act such as ["intentionally"] ["knowingly"] ["recklessly"] may be proved by circumstantial evidence. While witnesses may see and hear, and thus be able to give direct evidence of what a person does or fails to do, there can be no eye-witness account of the state of mind with which the acts are done or omitted. But what a person does or fails to do may or may not indicate the state of mind with which he/she does or refrains from doing an act.
Commentary


“While a defendant’s state of mind can rarely be proved by direct evidence, ‘the mind of an alleged offender may be read from his or her acts or conduct and the inferences fairly drawn from all of the circumstances.’” State v. Pudiquet, 82 Hawai#i 419, 425, 922 P.2d 1032, 1038 (App. 1996); State v. Leung, 79 Hawai#i 538, 544, 904 P.2d 552, 558 (App. 1995). "[S]ince intent can rarely be proved by direct evidence, proof by circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences arising from circumstances surrounding the act is sufficient to establish the requisite intent." State v. Sadino, 64 Haw. 427, 430, 642 P.2d 534, 537 (1982); see also State v. Rushing, 62 Haw. 102, 612 P.2d 103 (1980); State v. Hernandez, 61 Haw 475, 605 P.2d 75 (1980); State v. Yabusaki, 58 Haw. 404, 570 P.2d 844 (1977). 

In the Mayor's case, based on what you and your counterparts have written, the following circumstances occurred: the mayor made public statements that he wasn't taking auto allowance because of the downfall of the economy; the mayor had no gas budget; the mayor used a gas card that was assigned to a different county vehicle with a county license plate;  the mayor had a private license plate, not a county one; the mayor had re-elect Bernard Carvalho for Mayor bumper stickers on his private vehicle that he filled with County gas, the Mayor took the 5th when asked to explain his side of what happened, etc...

Given your lack of credibility with false statements that are totally contradicted by videotaped recordings, I don't have much faith that these facts you state regarding the Mayor are true however, even you using your own "facts", no reasonable person could conclude that something wrong happened here. 

I never pursued charges against Janine Rapozo. The Grand Jury returned an indictment. The Grand a Jury has its own Grand Jury counsel appointed by the court. They are prohibited from consulting with the prosecutor or deputy. The Grand Jury makes its decision confidentially. The jurors are prohibited, according to the law, to tell the Prosecutor or deputy the votes in a Grand Jury. The Grand Jury counsel tells the deputy whether or not a true bill is returned. In the Rapozo case, the deputy was told that a grand jury returned a true bill and the Grand Jury foreperson signed the Indictment. It was not until later when the deputy learned that 71% votes were obtained instead of 75%. As soon as he learned of the vote, he agreed to the dismissal. The hearing was video-taped and Is made available to the public.

Email #2


Aloha Andy, 

Sorry but my draft was forwarded before I completed it. I wanted to add that the first I heard of any purported illegal gas usage by me or anyone in my office was when Mr. Rawls filed his claim. I would be more than happy to state that there was no wrongdoing on my part or anyone else and hope that these allegations, made my a party I hardly knew, are taken to court and the truth is revealed. As you know, I have always advocated for the truth and the County Attorney has settled numerous lawsuits without any investigation or trial, over my staunch objection. Also, connect the dots... The same attorney is getting rich Dan Hempey, who is involved in these settlements, who is close friends with the County Attorney. 

It's obvious after all the lies that you've stated, that are directly contradicted by tape recorded court hearings and video-taped council meetings, your only interest is to pursue your own obscene personal agenda against me. It's clearly obvious you are not interested in the truth nor find that the Kauai people are intelligent enough to make their own decisions about issues by providing objective facts, not outright lies to support your thwarted agenda. It's hypocritical you claim you enjoy democracy and freedom of speech but anyone who has an opinion different from yours is " bullsh**" ( your words not mine) should wear a scarlet letter SI and be hung. Brings back the plantation mentality syndrome....You hate Kaipo Asing, and he is Native Hawaiian. You hate Kipu Kai and he's Native Hawaiian. You hate me, and I am Native Hawaiian.....uuummmmmmmmmm your pattern of hate is clearly becoming obvious...

Shaylene Iseri

For your information, Bernard Carvalho Jr. Is my, daughter's godfather. Do you want to see the picture of him and my family at the church and celebration of her baptism? Also, the Mayor was also the emcee for my wedding. Do you want to see the pictures of him at my wedding doing the honors? Unlike you, I have evidence and proof to support my facts. :-) :-)