LIHU‘E — Citing distorted news releases and alleged lies from a defense attorney’s press release, the Kaua‘i Office of the Prosecuting Attorney has made recordings related to a civil lawsuit available to the public. The OPA on Tuesday made public
LIHU‘E — Citing distorted news releases and alleged lies from a defense attorney’s press release, the Kaua‘i Office of the Prosecuting Attorney has made recordings related to a civil lawsuit available to the public.
The OPA on Tuesday made public a recording that surfaced last week after County Councilman Tim Bynum filed a federal lawsuit against the Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho.
The lawsuit claims that OPA wrongfully charged Bynum with misdemeanor zoning violations. The OPA was eventually recused from the case in 5th Circuit Court for a conflict of compelling public interests, and the state attorney general dropped it in May, saying the case would not move forward.
Bynum said he is suing because the prosecution has had a detrimental effect on the sale of his home, his work as a councilman and on his family. His attorney, Margery Bronster, released a press release last week regarding the suit, and the OPA disagrees with allegations.
The recording (posted at http://youtu.be/PpdwKM4JPYE) is of a November 2010 meeting between First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jake Delaplane, Supervising Planning Inspector Sheila Miyake and Planning Inspector Patrick Henriques.
The OPA release said that statements in the recording show that Kaua‘i County attorneys had barred planning inspectors from enforcing the law against Bynum for alleged zoning violations in order to influence his vote on Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s TVR (Transient Vacation Rentals) bill.
The statements occurred during a meeting to review and discuss alleged zoning violation files, including the investigation of Bynum for allegedly illegally converting a single-family residence into a multi-family dwelling on agriculturally zoned land.
Responding to the press release that accompanied Bynum’s lawsuit, Delaplane said that Bronster, made “false and defamatory statements indicating that the recording contains discussions of plans and knowledge of wrongdoing, and is even worded to give the appearance that Shaylene was present at the meeting.”
The OPA expressed concern that the defense attorney’s depiction of the recording does not convey the seriousness with the county officials in their discussion of policies and consequences.
Instead, Bronster describes them as joking about committing perjury, Delaplane says in the release.
