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Judge Declines To Throw Out City Prosecutor Impeachment Petition

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A state judge on Monday dismissed a motion that aimed to toss out an impeachment petition against Honolulu City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro.  

Local businessman Tracy Yoshimura is calling for Kaneshiro to step down while a federal corruption probe that targets him continues. The investigation concerns his possible conflict of interest and connection to several cases involving his former deputy, Katherine Kealoha. 

Circuit Court Judge Jeff Crabtree dismissed a motion by Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro’s attorney, Bill McCorriston, that called for the petition to be thrown out.

Yoshimura collected signatures supporting the impeachment petition online at  Change.org.

McCorriston questioned the validity of the signatures. He argued some could be from out-of-state residents or those outside of the City and County of Honolulu who would not qualify for the petition. He also said the petition has not been presented in court, and therefore, the number of signatures on it could not be verified.

Yoshimura has been working with city officials to validate the signatures. His attorney, Keith Kiuchi, said the petition is available online for viewing if there are concerns.

In dismissing McCorriston’s motion, the judge observed there’s no legal precedent against using online petitions under Hawaii law.

McCorriston said he will be looking into a possible appeal. The next hearing in the case has been set for June 24th. 

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