LIHU‘E — Fifth Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe last month fined the Kaua‘i Office of the Prosecuting Attorney $500 for failure to appear in court, and the 30-day window to pay the fine has lapsed, court records show. Newly elected Prosecutor
LIHU‘E — Fifth Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe last month fined the Kaua‘i Office of the Prosecuting Attorney $500 for failure to appear in court, and the 30-day window to pay the fine has lapsed, court records show.
Newly elected Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho’s office was sanctioned for not being in court at 9 a.m. on Dec. 17 for the criminal calendar and for failing to communicate with the court, according to court documents.
The fine was to be paid in full within 30 days of Dec. 18, when Watanabe issued the sanction, making the deadline Jan. 17.
Representatives from the court’s fiscal office and Watanabe’s chambers said Wednesday that the fine had not yet been paid.
The representative in Watanabe’s office said the court could levy further sanctions for the failure to pay the fine on time, but this has not happened to date. The representative declined to further discuss the possibilities.
Watanabe has been absent from court since the week of Jan. 12 with illness and is expected back in court Monday, the clerk said.
Last May, Iseri-Carvalho, then a Kaua‘i County Council member, lambasted then-Prosecutor Craig De Costa and County Finance Director Wally Rezentes Jr. for their decision to pay $1,690 in court fines out of county coffers.
Two of those sanctions were similar to the Dec. 18 fine for failure to appear in court. A third, for $690, was for prosecutors’ failure to dismiss a case before a jury was called.
It appears the new prosecutor will not be using county funds to pay the fine.
“Unlike the last administration which used thousands of taxpayer’s (sic) dollars for fines, I have vowed that I will never use taxpayer’s (sic) funds for this purpose, even if in this case, I feel it is justified because of the unique circumstances,” Iseri-Carvalho said in an e-mail.
She said those circumstances arose because her short-handed staff was spread thin in various other courtrooms and an “anomaly” occurred in which a prosecution witness for a grand jury proceeding fled courthouse sheriffs when she learned she was to be arrested on an outstanding bench warrant.
Due to the “chaotic” circumstances, Iseri-Carvalho said, a prosecuting attorney arrived an hour late to courtroom No. 6, earning the sanction.
“Judge Watanabe was very understanding and only issued the sanction because she said that she issued defense attorneys (the) same sanctions and wanted to be fair,” Iseri-Carvalho said in an e-mail. “However, she complimented us on our hard work and was very appreciative of all that we had done in the short amount of time that we were in office.”
Iseri-Carvalho said an order from Watanabe rescinding the sanction or transferring it from a payable fine to community service hours would be forthcoming.
An attempt to reach the court Thursday for information on the possibility of rescinding the sanction was unsuccessful.
See a future edition of The Garden Island for more coverage.
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
