Gov. Linda Lingle nominated Randal K. O. Lee to the Intermediate Court of Appeals yesterday. Lee will fill the seat that was previously held by Judge John S.W. Lim, who passed away in June. Lee was appointed in February 2005
Gov. Linda Lingle nominated Randal K. O. Lee to the Intermediate Court of Appeals yesterday. Lee will fill the seat that was previously held by Judge John S.W. Lim, who passed away in June.
Lee was appointed in February 2005 to the 1st Circuit Court, where he has served since April of that year. As a circuit judge, Lee has presided over civil and criminal cases and has also served as a substitute justice for appellate cases.
“I first appointed Judge Lee to the Circuit Court in 2005 because I felt his extensive experience as a deputy prosecuting attorney, as well as his background with the Public Defender’s Office, gave him a broad perspective that is critical to serving on the bench,” Lingle said in a prepared statement.
Lingle selected Lee from a list of six candidates submitted by the Judicial Selection Commission last month. Lee’s nomination is subject to confirmation by the Hawai‘i State Senate.
Lee is Lingle’s fourth appointee to the Intermediate Court of Appeals. The governor has also appointed 10 judges to the Circuit Court and one justice to the Hawai‘i Supreme Court.
Prior to joining the Circuit Court, Lee was a deputy prosecuting attorney with the city and county of Honolulu, where he handled numerous cases in circuit, traffic, district, family and appellate courts. He prosecuted cases involving campaign spending violations, financial and white-collar crime, and public corruption.
Lee was previously an attorney in the Appellate Branch and Family Court Trials Branch of the Office of the Public Defender. He also served as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court in California, the California Court of Appeals and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
Lee is a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i and the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles.
