Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho announced Wednesday that she plans to run for the county prosecutor position being vacated by her boss, Michael Soong. Iseri-Carvalho, currently a deputy county prosecuting attorney, is the second person from the office to announce she is running
Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho announced Wednesday that she plans to run for the county prosecutor position being vacated by her boss, Michael Soong.
Iseri-Carvalho, currently a deputy county prosecuting attorney, is the second person from the office to announce she is running for top job in the November election, joining county First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Craig De Costa, in the race.
“I think there are a lot of changes that can be made to the office. There are some ideological differences between the current administration and the ideas I have,” Iseri-Carvalho said in an interview with The Garden Island Wednesday.
“I am running to offer an alternative way of doing things, and I want the office to run more smoothly.”
One of the major changes, she said, is to involve victims and the community at-large in the prosecution process. She said that often in a case, a victim, besides their testimony, becomes just another bystander in the proceedings.
Iseri-Carvalho said that she would like the office to be more outreaching, involving the victims in the process, and asking them for their input in plea bargains, sentencings, and other aspects of the cases.
“I want to get the information out, to alleviate resistance to the government, and get people to understand the laws and what’s involved” in prosecution, she said. We should “be available, to make sure all are satisfied with the end result.
“Victim satisfaction is a key toward success,” she added.
And, she said, judging by her results in the seven years in the prosecutor’s office, her way works.
According to statistics Iseri-Carvalho provided, she said she has an 84 percent conviction rate while prosecuting family-abuse cases, and in her four years prosecuting sexual-assault cases, she achieved a 96 percent conviction rate, compared to a conviction rate below 20 percent before she started prosecuting those cases.
She currently handles a variety of felony cases, including a large portion of the property cases coming through the office, she said.
Iseri-Carvalho also spent five years on O‘ahu and Maui as a public defender in all courts: district, family and circuit. She also served as a law clerk for Judge Donald Tsukiyama and Herbert Shimabukuro and the Honolulu firm Bays, Deaver, Hiatt, and Kawachika.
That experience in a variety of areas of the law gives her an advantage over other lawyers, she says.
“Being able to anticipate a defense is key,” she said. Her experience with being a defense attorney gives her an edge when preparing a witness on what to expect on the stand, she feels.
“I can offer intense preparation simply because I have done it hundreds of times,” Iseri-Carvalho added. “I am able to see both sides.”
Iseri-Carvalho, married to Destry Iseri-Carvalho, has two children, La‘akea, 7, and Deshayne‘e, 3. They live in Anahola.
She said that her spare time is devoted to sports and increasing parental awareness and participation in education.
She is president of the Wilcox Elementary School Parent-Teacher-Student Association.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mailto:tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
