Kaua‘i Prosecutor-Elect Craig A. De Costa this week named former Kaua‘i County Councilmember Richard K. Minatoya as his first deputy. De Costa, who takes over the prosecutor office on Wednesday, Dec. 1 after winning the four-year term when no candidate
Kaua‘i Prosecutor-Elect Craig A. De Costa this week named former Kaua‘i County Councilmember Richard K. Minatoya as his first deputy.
De Costa, who takes over the prosecutor office on Wednesday, Dec. 1 after winning the four-year term when no candidate ran against him, said in a news release he expects Minatoya to start as his first deputy on Monday, Jan. 3. Jennifer S. Winn will act as first deputy until then, De Costa said, as Minatoya closes his private practice in Lihu‘e.
“I am excited,” said De Costa. “We definitely, by the end of next year, will have a good team in place, with team-oriented deputies with various experience.”
In fact, De Costa should have 10 deputies in place by then, which if he were in private practice would put him in charge of the largest Kaua‘i-based law firm on the island.
Minatoya, a member of the Kaua‘i County Council in the 1990s, is a former deputy prosecuting attorney for the County of Maui. He is also a former deputy corporation counsel for Maui County, and worked at the state Legislature.
De Costa said he believes that Minatoya’s experience as an appellate attorney for the Maui prosecutor’s office, service on the County Council, and work with the state Legislature, make him a good fit as Kaua‘i first deputy prosecutor.
Having done many appeals, Minatoya knows the law, the procedural rules, and what kind of proof is required for a conviction to stand up on appeal, De Costa said. Having served on the council and worked for the state Legislature, Minatoya will be able to assist the top prosecutor with the budget, and lobbying the legislature for needed changes in the law, De Costa continued.
Minatoya is a graduate of Kaua‘i High School, University of Southern California and the Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.
Winn, a deputy prosecuting attorney with the office since 2001, will remain with the office as a felony trial deputy after Minatoya takes the first-deputy spot, De Costa said. Winn graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and received her law degree from Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Winn is a former law clerk for the Judge George M. Masuoka.
With the departure of deputy prosecutors Aaron K.H. Kakinami and Shaylene Iseri-Cravalho (who won a seat on the Kaua‘i County Council), De Costa has made a few changes to the office, effective over the next few months, he said.
He also plans on adding two more deputies, with funding generated from grants.
Rosa Flores, who has been with the office since November 2003, will now handle the felony drug cases as part of a new Ice Task Force with the Kaua‘i Police Department.
According to De Costa, members of the KPD vice squad were so impressed with her work that they requested that Flores be assigned to their cases.
Flores, like De Costa and Minatoya, graduated from the Richardson School of Law at UH-Manoa.
Flores has handled mostly misdemeanor and traffic cases in District Court since joining the office.
The funding for the task-force position was announced earlier this week in a joint statement from U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai‘i, and Kaua‘i Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste.
De Costa also announced two other new hires earlier this week:
Simeona L. Ahuna, currently a law clerk for Masuoka, will begin with the office as a special prosecuting attorney assigned to adult family court and district-court matters. Ahuna is also a graduate of the Richardson School of Law at UH.
Marc E. Guyot will join the office as a special prosecutor in February. Guyot will initially be assigned to handle district-court cases.
Guyot has been in private practice on O‘ahu, and needs to close his law practice and complete his move to Kaua‘i before starting at the office.
Guyot is a graduate of California Western School of Law.
Two experienced trial attorneys who are currently practicing on the Mainland are expected to join the office once they take care of pending obligations at their current jobs, said De Costa.
Both attorneys, one currently a public defender with 10 years of experience and the other a “career prosecutor” with eight years of experience, want to move to Kaua‘i to join family members who have lived on Kaua‘i for several years, he added.
Both future deputies have expressed a desire to serve the community that they have visited often and intend to call home soon, he said.
The start dates for those deputies will most likely be in the latter part of 2005, De Costa said.
Funding for one of the positions is expected to be generated through federal and state grants, said De Costa.
Three other prosecutors will remain with the office:
Dena Renti Cruz, who has been a deputy prosecuting attorney with the office since July 1999, will be assigned to the Juvenile Court.
De Costa said he expects that Renti Cruz’s work ethic will allow her to accelerate the charging and disposition of juvenile cases. Renti Cruz is a graduate of Waimea High School, the University of Hawai‘i, and the Richardson School of Law at UH.
Roland J. Talon, who has been with the office since December 2000, will remain with the office as a deputy prosecuting attorney. Talon will initially handle the Waimea and Hanalei District Court cases and assist De Costa and Minatoya with screening the cases that now qualify for information charging, or “direct file,” under the newly passed constitutional amendment and corresponding statute.
Talon is also a member of the Hawaii Air National Guard. Talon is a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and the Richardson School of Law at UH-Manoa.
Tracy J. Murakami will also remain with the office as the deputy prosecuting attorney assigned to appeals and civil forfeitures.
Murakami is on her third stint with the prosecutor’s office.
She was a law intern in 1995 while she was a law student at the Richardson School of Law; was hired as a deputy prosecutor in 1999, until she left to work for the County Council in 2001; and was rehired in 2003 after leaving the council. Murakami is also a former law clerk for Masuoka.
Tom Finnegan, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@ pulitzer.net.
