Kaua‘i County Prosecutor Michael Soong announced Tuesday he will not seek re-election for a third term, but First Deputy Prosecutor Craig De Costa said he will run for the office. De Costa announced yesterday that he will seek the top
Kaua‘i County Prosecutor Michael Soong announced Tuesday he will not seek re-election for a third term, but First Deputy Prosecutor Craig De Costa said he will run for the office.
De Costa announced yesterday that he will seek the top prosecutor job in the Nov. 2 election. Up for grabs is the four-year term for an office that has no limits on numbers of terms a prosecutor may serve.
Soong said he will go into private practice.
“Making this decision wasn’t easy,” Soong said, “but I have decided private practice will allow me more time to spend with my children, and provide for them as well.”
Soong and his wife, Liana, an assistant in Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste’s office, are expecting their seventh child in April.
“I’m proud of my accomplishments our office has made over the last eight years. We have achieved the major goals we established upon being elected, and I believe we have laid a solid foundation that will enable my successor to pick up where I left off.”
Soong’s successor might be his current second in command.
De Costa, born and raised in Pakala, has been working in the prosecutor’s office since right after Soong was first elected in November 1996, right after De Costa received his law accreditation.
“He was a great boss, and accomplished a lot in his eight years,” De Costa said of Soong yesterday.
Soong will remain prosecutor until Dec. 1, when his successor will be sworn in.
As for De Costa, he said his experience would be the biggest help if he were to win the head-prosecutor role.
His greatest asset, he said, is “the experience I’ve had so far, and my skills working with other agencies,” such as law enforcement, government, and especially the community.
“I would like to continue to work with the police, the judiciary, and the community to make further improvements to the criminal-justice system on Kauai,” said De Costa in announcing his candidacy.
“We have made substantial progress over the recent years, and face new challenges in the near future.
“The only way to accomplish (these goals) is to work with the those agencies, including the community,” De Costa said.
He added that he would like to help with the expansion of a drug court on the island. “I would like to see the expansion of drug court to juveniles,” De Costa added.
“The ice problem is a major law-enforcement and community concern on Kaua‘i. The work the community, the police department, (U.S.) Senator (Daniel K.) Inouye, Lt. Governor (James “Duke”) Aiona, and Mayor Baptiste have done in this area is ongoing.
“In order to fully realize the potential of this effort, the prosecutor must be someone who can effectively work with those involved in this fight. I have the experience and skills to be successful in this undertaking,” he said.
De Costa, a regular at the state courthouse in Lihu‘e, said he intends to continue prosecuting a full case load and continue his administrational duties as first deputy while campaigning.
“I don’t want my campaign to interfere with my job,” he said.
He cited two cases in 2002, the convictions of William L. McCrory and Howard Ikaika Giddens for second-degree murder in unrelated cases, as two of the more high-profile cases he and Soong prosecuted.
But De Costa said that he has prosecuted just about every type of criminal in his eight years, including those accused of felony assaults, firearms offenses, property crimes, and drug offenses.
De Costa has been the first deputy prosecutor since August of 2000.
The prosecutor appoints his or her deputies. Currently, there are eight deputies under Soong.
According to an official at the elections division of the county clerk’s office, no one, including De Costa, has “taken out papers to run for that seat.”
Candidate nomination papers for all federal, state and county elections became available earlier this month at the county clerk’s office in the historic County Building in Lihu‘e.
The filing deadline is Tuesday, July 20.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mailto:tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
