LIHU‘E — With James’ Pflueger manslaughter trial quickly approaching, the car dealer’s attorneys and the state Attorney General are set to continue their legal wrangling in earnest in Circuit Court starting today. Pflueger, 82, has been charged with seven counts
LIHU‘E — With James’ Pflueger manslaughter trial quickly approaching, the car dealer’s attorneys and the state Attorney General are set to continue their legal wrangling in earnest in Circuit Court starting today.
Pflueger, 82, has been charged with seven counts of manslaughter — one for each of the lives lost on March 14, 2006, in the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam disaster. He pleaded not guilty in January and the trial is scheduled to start in June.
A pair of motions will be heard by 5th Circuit Chief Judge Randal Valenciano today, according to court documents. The first, a defense motion to disqualify the Office of the Attorney General, is a rehashing of a similar motion made in November as rumors swirled about a possible indictment that came down just days later.
In arguments made before Valenciano during that motion, Pflueger’s attorney Bill McCorriston alleged that because the state is “in the mix” as a defendant in civil lawsuits to be heard starting later this year, any criminal charges should instead be handled by a special independent investigator or the County of Kaua‘i’s prosecuting attorney — “anybody with clear eyes.”
Deputy Attorney General Mark Miyahira argued his office has formed two separate teams — one to defend the state against civil claims in the case and another to investigate and potentially prosecute criminal defendants. They do not share information, they comply with the law and should be allowed to continue to conduct their investigation, he said.
Valenciano said he had not received sufficient factual presentation from McCorriston regarding specific improper passing of information between teams to warrant either Attorney General Mark Bennett’s recusal or the disqualification of the entire office, closing the door on the motion but leaving a window open to revisit the matter should more details come to light.
A phone message left for McCorriston seeking information on the new motion was not returned by press time.
The second motion scheduled to be heard by Valenciano today is a prosecution motion to quash defense subpoenas of Bennett and deputies Christopher Young and Dennis Ferm. The three had been issued subpoenas to appear in court last week, according to court records.
On Wednesday, the court is set to hear a defense motion to dismiss the case “on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct for failure to present exculpatory evidence,” court records show.
A representative of Valenciano’s courtroom reached Monday said she was unsure if Pflueger would physically be in court or even appear via videoconference like he did in January when pleading not guilty to the charges.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
