LIHU‘E — A state judge Tuesday ordered unsealed the State of Hawai‘i portion of a settlement agreement in the wrongful-death and property-damage lawsuits against retired Honolulu car dealer James Pflueger. The cases stem from the March 2006 collapse of Ka
LIHU‘E — A state judge Tuesday ordered unsealed the State of Hawai‘i portion of a settlement agreement in the wrongful-death and property-damage lawsuits against retired Honolulu car dealer James Pflueger.
The cases stem from the March 2006 collapse of Ka Loko Reservoir’s earthen dam after 40 days of constant rains, when millions of gallons of water rushed seaward, taking out everything in its path.
Seven people asleep on the makai side of Kuhio Highway near Kilauea died, though not all of the bodies were recovered.
Once 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe reviews and signs the order granting the state’s motion to unseal only the state’s portion of the settlement, the state portion of the settlement will be unsealed, and anyone interested will be able to see the state’s share of the settlement agreed to by multiple plaintiffs in the case, including entertainer Bette Midler, Realtor Bruce Fehring (who lost a daughter, son-in-law and grandchild in the tragedy), and Rudy Bosma, owner of the Two Frogs Hugging retail store in Lihu‘e.
The order was sent via U.S. mail Monday by state special Deputy Attorney General Ken Robbins, said Anderson Meyer, a Robbins associate and also a special deputy attorney general in the civil cases.
Meyer said Robbins’ order will not have a dollar figure attached to it, but the state’s appendix to the global agreement (the settlement document) will have that state figure.
Another media outlet has filed a formal document request for the figure, said Meyer, adding that the state requested the state portion of the settlement be unsealed because of the media request for that information.
None of the attorneys in the case were present in Watanabe’s courtroom Tuesday, at the judge’s suggestion.
Since there was no opposition by any of the involved parties to the state’s portion of the settlement being unsealed, Watanabe did not require the attorneys, most of them from O‘ahu, to be present Tuesday.
Watanabe said in granting the state’s motion to unseal the state’s segment of the settlement agreement that the unsealing pertains only to the state portion, and that non-government defendants — including Pflueger — are not required to release their amounts of the settlement.
She also gave Robbins two weeks to file the order granting the motion, apparently not knowing that his order was mailed to Watanabe Monday.
“It was probably against public policy to seal that (state) portion of the settlement. So the state’s portion will be made public, but I don’t know when that will be,” said North Shore attorney Teresa Tico, who is representing all the plaintiffs in both the wrongful-death and property-damage civil cases.
It is expected the state Legislature will approve funding of the settlement amount during its regular session starting in the middle of next month.
Pflueger’s manslaughter criminal trial is scheduled for April 2010 at the state courthouse in Lihu‘e.
Pflueger, 83, is accused of negligence in maintaining Ka Loko Reservoir that allegedly led to the dam’s failure and downstream damages and loss of lives.
