2004-08-13 Police Commission Minutes

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HAWAII COUNTY POLICE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING, AUGUST 13, 2004 WAIMEA CIVIC CENTER CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Dwight Manago called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Dwight K. Manago, Vice Chair John M. Bertsch, Commissioner Paul M. de Silva, Commissioner James A. Frazier, Commissioner Pudding Lassiter, Commissioner Betsy Mitchell, Commissioner Peter P. Muller, Commissioner Absent: Horace S. Hara, Chair Also Present: Lawrence K. Mahuna, Police Chief Elroy Osorio, Assistant Chief James Day, Major Fay Nishibayashi, Accountant Lincoln Ashida, Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Frazier motioned to approve the agenda with corrected typos. Commissioner Mitchell seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. STATEMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS - Open to the public Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida explained the difference between open and executive sessions. OFFICER CHRISTOPHER GALI, HPC 04 -26: Stated that this complaint is the result of Reuben Chun's DUI arrest in November 2001. He took the original tape to court for his testimony. He placed the evidence on the prosecutor's table and presented his testimony. This was not a trial. It was a motion to suppress. The prosecutor had a copy of the original tape and did not ask if it was the original tape. At no time did he say it was the original tape. He held onto the tape because almost every month they had a hearing. Several months ago he received a call from Patricia Oliveira, investigator for the prosecutor. Apparently, Mr. Chun's counsel had hired a person to check if the tape was tampered with. He thought the tape that went into the exhibit was the original, and upon checking, it was not. He told her that he would have to check at home for the tape, being that in May of 2003, he was transferred to Kona, and he cleaned out his desk in his Hilo office. He found the tape at home. The expert found no tampering of the tape. Mr. Chun's complaint states that he held the tape at home for over two years, which is not true. He had it in his custody when he took it back and forth to court. At times he did have it at home, especially on his days off. Instead of going back to the station, he would go directly home. When he transferred to Kona, he had it at home for about a year.