LIHU‘E — Four months after criminal charges were dropped against him in 5th Circuit Court, Kaua‘i County Councilman Tim Bynum filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday, claiming constitutional violations, abuse of abuse of power and malicious prosecution. The defendants named
LIHU‘E — Four months after criminal charges were dropped against him in 5th Circuit Court, Kaua‘i County Councilman Tim Bynum filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday, claiming constitutional violations, abuse of abuse of power and malicious prosecution.
The defendants named in the case include County of Kaua‘i Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho and Sheila Miyake, who was a supervising planning inspector in the County Planning Department. The suit alleges political retaliation as a motive for an illegal prosecution over zoning law violations.
County of Kaua‘i Director of Communications Beth Tokioka said that because this is a pending lawsuit, the county has no comment.
“This won’t be good for me,” Bynum said. “But it will be good for the county.”
After being wrongfully charged for misdemeanor zoning violations, Bynum said being labeled as a criminal had a detrimental effect on the sale of his home, his work as a councilman and on his family. He hired private attorneys to defend himself, and in the process of clearing his name, said he discovered overwhelming evidence of misconduct by a small group of powerful people led by Iseri-Carvalho.
“The complaint we are filing speaks for itself and highlights just some of the evidence of abuse,” Bynum said. “This blatant abuse of power has led to the difficult decision to take legal action by filing a civil rights complaint in federal court.”
After three terms as a county councilman, Bynum said he understands that politics can get “tough and ugly” at times, but is proud of his work and the council. He said that an abuse of power targeted him for purely political reasons and must be resolved through civil action.
Bynum said he would demonstrate that a criminal complaint brought against him earlier this year was baseless. He said the suit is about making individuals accountable and helping to prevent deliberate mistreatment of others by county officials in the future.
“I look forward to putting these issues behind me so I can focus fully on my family and my responsibilities as a council member,” he added.
The civil complaint makes claims against Miyake and the county regarding conspiracy to violate civil rights, abuse of process and trespassing. It accuses the OPA and all defendants with violation of rights, unlawfully charging civil and criminal zoning violations and tortuous interference with prospective economic advantage.
Bynum was elected to the County Council in 2006, and reelected in 2008 and 2010. He is currently running for a fourth term.
Iseri-Carvalho served on the council from 2007 to 2008. She was elected prosecutor in 2008.
The suit claims that in 2008, Bynum voted for amendments to Kaua‘i’s zoning laws that Miyake and Iseri-Carvalho opposed. As a result of the November 2010 election, zoning complaints against Bynum and his residence were expedited prior to a new director of the Planning Department taking over.
The suit alleges that Miyake arbitrarily and capriciously issued a second zoning violation notice against Bynum before the new administration and new council chairman took over. It claims that recordings of her include statements saying that Bynum’s issue was political.
The suit alleges that Miyake and Iseri-Carvalho acted on an anonymous complaint about alleged zoning violations in the Bynum home. It states the two either knew or should have known there was nothing illegal about renting out a room in the home.
It alleges that deputy county attorneys responsible for interpreting the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance informed planning officials of limitations and advised that no probable cause existed with Bynum regarding the zoning ordinance.
Bynum was charged with four counts of zoning violations, which were brought up after someone allegedly trespassed onto his property and saw a rice cooker in his adjacent dwelling unit. Bynum was not at home and the inspectors looked through windows and declared that a portable rice-cooker in his family room was a second kitchen violation.
The CZO states that it is illegal to convert a single-family dwelling into multi-family units without a permit. Bynum built an addition to accommodate extended family. He said a review by a planning department representative informed found it was legal as long as no stove was installed.
He said the correspondence was conflicting.
Approximately 19 months later, the OPA charged Bynum with four misdemeanor zoning charges in 5th District Court.
The charges carried a maximum one-year jail sentence.
The case was moved to 5th Circuit and Judge Kathleen Watanabe declared a conflict with the OPA in the case. She said there was “highly improper” and “compelling public interests” involved and sent the case to the state attorney general.
Special Attorney General Richard Minatoya said in May that he and a special investigator interviewed the county and civilian witnesses, reviewed county code ordinances and concluded the case would not survive a suppression of evidence motion. He signed a dismissal order on May 3, and Watanabe accepted and approved.
The case was dismissed with prejudice because a new case would lack the elements of the original and could not see charging again based on those merits, Minatoya said.
While the case was still active, Iseri-Carvalho requested that Bynum be recused from county council meetings in matters involving the prosecutor’s office. The Kaua‘i Board of Ethics concluded that Bynum did not have a conflict of interest and had a constitutional right to fulfill his duties as an elected councilman.
The OPA continued to protest Bynum’s involvement in two March county council meetings involving a request for a law office assistant.
“A prosecutor cannot use a criminal prosecution against a political rival in an attempt to intimidate him and prevent him in a County Council meeting from asking legitimate questions about the operations and budget of the Office of the Prosecutor,” said Honolulu attorney Margery Bronster, who is representing Bynum with her partner Andrew Pepper at the firm Bronster Hoshibata, and Lihu‘e attorney Daniel Hempey, who represented him in the state criminal suit.
Bronster said that the Kaua‘i prosecutor’s own secret audio recordings that were taken in witness interviews in the attempt to prosecute Bynum are now being used against them in the suit. The tapes contain discussions of plans and alleged knowledge of wrongdoing, she added.
“Councilmember Bynum’s rights were severely injured and we plan to bring everyone involved to justice,” Bronster said.
Iseri-Carvalho is attending a Mainland conference and did not return a call to her cell phone.
A copy of the lawsuit is posted online at www.
bronsterhoshibata.com.
