LIHU‘E — The case against a county manager over accessory to theft charges was dismissed at her initial appearance in 5th Circuit Court Tuesday County Human Resources Manager Janine M.Z. Rapozo stood by her attorney, with family and coworkers including
LIHU‘E — The case against a county manager over accessory to theft charges was dismissed at her initial appearance in 5th Circuit Court Tuesday
County Human Resources Manager Janine M.Z. Rapozo stood by her attorney, with family and coworkers including Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., in court. She was charged with aiding the mayor in alleged theft of county fuel, and 21 misdemeanor counts of falsifying business records related to use of a county fuel card.
Chief Judge Randal Valenciano ruled to dismiss the indictment, based on an error with the grand jury document.
A grand jury foreman presented the findings to the court on Nov. 14, calling for an indictment. But the grand jury was actually short of the required 75 percent of quorum to show probable cause.
“While I am glad that the court looked at the grand jury votes and ruled that there really was not an indictment, on the other hand I am disappointed that Miss Rapozo had to go through all of this,” said defense attorney Craig De Costa, who represented Rapozo. “If the court had done the calculations correctly there would not have been an indictment and no one would have said there would have been an indictment.”
Outside the courtroom, Carvalho said the decision still leaves him emotional and angry.
To malign the reputation of a dedicated county manager with 18-plus years of experience is uncalled for, the mayor said. To put Rapozo, her family and other county workers through this is worse, he added.
“This whole thing should not have happened,” Carvalho said. “This is not right.”
Grand jury votes don’t add up
The grand jury document is a record of what cases are presented by the prosecutor. Once the grand jury presents the document for official record it is filed with the court.
County First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jake Delaplane also recommended dismissing the case based on the grand jury return. The document, which states that 10 jurors concurred with the indictment, also did not indicate there were four who voted against the indictment, or that there were 14 total jurors.
Delaplane noted for the record that the grand jury document is not signed by the prosecuting attorney.
De Costa argued that the case should be dismissed with prejudice so the state would not be allowed to bring up new charges from the same set of facts. The court denied the request and dismissed the case without prejudice.
In a press release Tuesday, Delaplane said the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney would be seeking a criminal complaint through District Court, where a judge could make a determination of probable cause with a preliminary hearing process in open court, noting all the evidence would be presented publicly and the judge would determine probable cause.
But De Costa said by phone that he does not expect anything new to arise that would bring the case back to court. He said the grand jury did not find probable cause and that is a lower standard than the level of reasonable doubt with a circuit court jury.
“No prosecutor would think they can convince 12 jurors there is evidence for reasonable doubt,” he added. “I don’t expect further attempts to charge Miss Rapozo.”
Mayor, OPA trade barbs
Carvalho said the county’s mayors have long used the gas cards for their personal vehicles that are also used for official duties. There is no attempt to hide the practice, he said, and he was never indicted in the matter.
The fact that this matter ever reached this point in court was “just totally terrible,” he said.
Carvalho said there was never criminal intent but somehow the process skipped all administrative steps to address a policy issue. It went from an audit discrepancy to malicious criminal charges, he said.
“Now it is time to get back to work and keep doing the good things that we do for the county,” he added.
In a press release issued after the court hearing, Carvalho states, “This administration handles issues and concerns by talking things out, airing our differences and fining solutions. We never had that chance in this instance.”
But in the release from the OPA, Delaplane asserts that this statement from the mayor “is simply a lie.”
“According to records, the mayor was given multiple opportunities for over one year to speak with audit investigators and the Kaua‘i Police Department during the course of the investigation. He repeatedly chose, however, to remain silent, refused to give a statement, and did not cooperate with the investigation,” Delaplane states in the news release, which was released in response to the earlier statement from the mayor’s office.
In that statement, the mayor asserted that what happened to Rapozo “was uncalled for, it was unfair, and it was just plain wrong.”
Outgoing Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri Carvalho said she was just doing her job.
“As prosecutor, it has always been my ethical duty to diligently pursue the fair and impartial administration of justice. It is disturbing and unfortunate that the mayor continues to seek special treatment during the course of this investigation and persists in creating a hostile work environment by engaging in retaliatory actions,” Iseri Carvalho said in an email Tuesday night.
“We will make every effort to put a stop to this abuse of power, and ensure that we uphold the time-honored principle of pono kaulike, equal rights and justice for all.”
Managing Director Gary Heu states in the news release from the mayor’s office that the administration is committed to addressing concerns that were raised by the county auditor in an April report, and in fact agreed with many of the recommendations made in the report.
“Use of county fuel, particularly in the case of the mayor and other elected officials, is currently based on long-standing practice that dates back more than two decades,” Heu says. “We have acknowledged that these practices need to be reviewed, in some cases amended, and reduced to a clearly written policy — which we are in the process of doing as we speak.”
Following the issuance of the report, the administration began drafting a formal policy for county fuel use, the release states.
Heu notes that other than the interim report, which is available on the county auditor’s website, the administration has received no additional information on any concerns the auditor may have had relating to the mayor’s gas usage.
“As I’ve stated in the past, we haven’t seen any evidence of criminal intent on the part of anyone involved in this matter, and presently are interested in addressing whatever administrative shortcomings might exist so that we can act appropriately in the future,” Heu says in the release.
Documents sealed
Valenciano also addressed the supplemental reports and evidence that were submitted with the motions.
He asked the attorneys why the grand jury transcript was not presented, but instead contains a voluminous 1,075-page attachment from the prosecutor that contains investigation details and emails of county officials.
De Costa said the court did not have enough time to create a transcript from the grand jury video prior to the arraignment hearing.
The attachments were filed to address what Delaplane said were factual inaccuracies in the motions to dismiss.
The court ruled that witness names would be redacted from the supplemental materials and ordered the attachment investigations and communications be concealed from public view. The prosecutor could motion to make them public record in a future hearing if they wished, Valenciano said.
“Although the court has ordered these documents to be sealed, the OPA will be filing a motion to unseal the documents in order to promote the principles of openness and transparency in government operations,” Delaplane states in the release.
De Costa’s request for the court to waive Rapozo’s application fee to have her arrest and charges removed from her record was denied. The request to assess her legal fees to the OPA was also denied.
The motion of the county attorney to void three investigative subpoenas against county offices was kept on the calendar. The subpoenas are no longer in effect with the dismissal of the case; however, as there was not a county attorney present to speak on the motion, the matter could not be considered or dismissed.
Rapozo has worked for the county since 1994 in various department leadership roles. She is currently the human resources manager for the Department of Personnel Services.
• Tom LaVenture can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
