LIHU‘E — The judge on Wednesday denied a last-minute request to postpone the prison sentence ordered for Steven and April Schaefer, who must report to Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center on Friday. The Schaefers were sentenced Nov. 9 to a year
LIHU‘E — The judge on Wednesday denied a last-minute request to postpone the prison sentence ordered for Steven and April Schaefer, who must report to Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center on Friday.
The Schaefers were sentenced Nov. 9 to a year in jail for scheming Kaua‘i couples out of money. Their attorney, Hayden Aluli, had won a 14-day stay before the Maui couple was ordered to self-report to KCCC this week.
Aluli made several attempts to convince 5th District Judge Laurel Loo that case law allows a judge to set aside sentencing for the duration of the appeals process.
Loo said early on that this proceeding is to consider a petition to vacate and would not be to argue a Rule 40 petition; that would have to be addressed with a different judge at another time.
Aluli referenced State of Hawai‘i vs Kido, and other cases to show that a judge has discretion to set aside sentencing for the duration of what could be lengthy delays in the appellate process.
The pending federal appeal based on procedural issues in the state court, Aluli said, leaves his clients with the most basic legal rights, writs of habeas corpus, referring to jurisdiction and illegal imprisonment, and coram nobis, a writ to correct a previous error.
Kaua‘i County Special Deputy Prosecutor Tracy Murakami, an appeals attorney with 20 years experience, said she had not heard an interpretation of Section 804.4 as argued by Aluli. In this case she said that a sentencing order must stand unless there is new evidence or changes in procedure.
In the end, Murakami said this case in running a 13-year course of failed appeals and has reverted back to Fifth Circuit from the Hawai‘i Supreme Court for sentencing. It is time to put closure on this case in fairness to the victims and for the defendants, she said.
The judge said this was a strange case, procedurally. Loo said where Aluli argued Hawai‘i vs Kido was a case offering clarification. She repeated Murakami’s statement that to interpret Section 804.4 as presented by Aluli in favor of the stay would lead to absurd results.
The terms of the original 2009 sentencing remain in effect. The couple was tried separately on multiple charges of second-degree theft, tax evasion and filing an incorrect tax form.
The plea deal dropped the felony charge in return for accepting 19 misdemeanor charges. They must also pay restitution of $33,876.57 plus $1,045 in court fees.
The restitution will go to individuals and couples, some of whom were elderly and members of the Schaefers’ church. They paid from $275 to as much as $6,705, reportedly for future land rights and settlements that the Hawaiian Kingdom would supposedly reap when it regained control of the islands from the United States.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or by emailing tlaventure@ thegardenisland.com.
