LIHUE — A motion to dismiss a quiet title case filed against Coco Palms Hui LLC, was granted during civil proceedings Thursday in Fifth Circuit Court, but that’s not the end of the Coco Palms legal battle according to those involved.
Instead, Noa Mau-Espirito, who originally filed the proceedings, said he and his group are planning on filing a lawsuit against the development company in federal court.
Co-plaintiff Kamu “Charles” Hepa agreed that the case should be dismissed.
The reason they’re doing this is that arguing over ownership by TMK (tax map key) numbers violates U.S. Constitutional law.
“For me to be arguing over this TMK issue, is total fraud and I realize I should have not filed in the beginning. So I apologize to everybody, for wasting everybody’s time,” Mau-Espirito said in court on Thursday. “It was after what I did what I did, I realized from some of my councils and my uncles that I did the wrong thing and that it’s not the proper way for us to go about this issue.”
Arguing on behalf of defendants and owners of Coco Palms Hui LLC, Chad Waters and Tyler Greene, Attorney Laurel Loo told the court the plaintiffs had not filed an opposition to their motion to dismiss. Their complaint, she said, does not establish a case on title.
The defendants motion to dismiss was granted.
“Ms. Loo, given how this matter has unfolded, I’ll be granting the motion to dismiss, by way of agreement of all of the parties,” Valenciano ruled.
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Bethany Freudenthal, courts, crime and county reporter, can be reached at 652-7891 or bfreudenthan@thegardenisland.com.
