2002-03 Prohibited Political Activities

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State of Hawai f v. Rene M. Mansho Enclosed is a copy of the Complaint and plea form in State of Hawai f v. Rene M. Mansho. A "complaint" is the document which formally charges a criminal defendant with a crime or crimes. The plea form indicates what charges a criminal defendant pleads guilty to. Although the attached letter to the plea form indicates it is "confidential," the plea form and attachments become public records, since our laws require all prosecutorial activities (with the exception of juvenile cases and grand jury proceedings) be conducted in open court. Defendant Mansho was prosecuted and convicted of two felonies, Theft in the First Degree, and Theft in the Second Degree. Both felonies are punishable by up to 10 and 5 years in prison, respectfully. Both felonies are also "probationable" offenses. It will be up to the judge to determine what sentence Mansho receives. She faces the possibility of either probation or 10 years in prison (but not both) at her upcoming sentencing hearing. Even if Mansho is granted probation by the Court, she may serve a jail term as a condition of her probation. Again, this is wholly discretionary with the court. Count I of the Complaint alleges Mansho, in a continuing course of conduct, utilized her council staff members to perform campaign-related tasks, while on City and County "work time." The prosecution utilized expert consultants to calculate the total amount of public funds misappropriated during the stated time period. This total was well in excess of the $20,000 threshold for the class B felony offense of Theft in the First Degree. Count II of the Complaint alleges Mansho utilized monies from her campaign fund (which legally belongs to the State of Hawai`i), for the payment of private expenses, such as her cellular telephone bill. The total misappropriated over the stated time period was in excess of$300, the threshold amount for the class C felony offense of Theft in the Second Degree. This case illustrates many important points: • Our criminal laws provide the statute of limitations may be tolled (suspended) where fraud is an element of the offense. The statute of limitations is a law in our state which says after the passage of a certain period of time (from the date the crime was committed), the prosecution cannot charge you with a crime. However, the law also says in cases where some "fraud" was committed by he perpetrator, "the clock stops running," and the prosecution is given additional time to bring charges. In Mansho's case, many of her activities were conducted in a fraudulent (secret) manner. Thus, as seen in Count II of the Complaint, the prosecution was able to go as far back as 1994 to capture the misconduct. • The Hawaii Penal Code has applicable provisions which cover political -2-