A lawsuit claiming that the chiefs of police for the Big Island, Maui and Honolulu violated the law during the 2019 Thirty Meter Telescope protests has been dismissed once again, this time by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
A lawsuit claiming that the chiefs of police for the Big Island, Maui and Honolulu violated the law during the 2019 Thirty Meter Telescope protests has been dismissed once again, this time by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
Big Island resident E. Kalani Flores filed a lawsuit in the Third Circuit Court against Hawaii County Police Chief Paul Ferreira, then-Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard, and then-Maui Police Chief Tivoli Faaumu in 2019, arguing that their involvement in the protests violated state laws governing county police jurisdictions.
The lawsuit contended that, by sending approximately 60 Honolulu officers and 27 Maui officers to assist Big Island police in managing the protests on the Maunakea Access Road, the chiefs violated a law that stipulates officers can only be brought to a neighboring island if they are pursuing an investigation that commenced within their own jurisdiction.
That lawsuit was dismissed on a technicality, but was appealed to the state Intermediate Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the chiefs last year. Despite this, the case was appealed again last August to state Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday published an opinion concluding that the Third Circuit Court was correct in dismissing the suit, finding not only that the chiefs did not violate the jurisdictional statute, but also that Flores did not have the legal basis to sue the chiefs even if they had violated it.
“Allowing a private individual to sue police chiefs (for violation of the statute) would interfere with the ability of police from different jurisdictions to cooperate and provide continuity to police investigations,” the ruling read in part.
The ruling also determined that the statute in question does not delineate the only possible scenario in which a police officer may exercise authority on a neighbor island, with other statutes supporting other scenarios. Furthermore, other statutes expressly allow for mutual aid between county services including police.
With a unanimous verdict, the Supreme Court dismissed the suit for the third time.
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