A retired Hilo Circuit Court judge who presided over the Dana Ireland rape and murder trials and several other high-profile cases was selected as the hearings officer on the application for construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.
A retired Hilo Circuit Court judge who presided over the Dana Ireland rape and murder trials and several other high-profile cases was selected as the hearings officer on the application for construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources announced Friday that Riki May Amano will conduct the contested case hearing for the controversial $1.4 billion observatory project.
Amano will determine the schedule for the contested case hearing.
The selection committee ranked Amano as the top applicant, according to a DLNR statement, and Chairwoman Suzanne Case successfully negotiated a contract with Amano. The selection committee consisted of retired state Supreme Court Associate Justice James Duffy, Deputy Attorney General Stella Kam and state Board of Land and Natural Resources member Christopher Yuen.
“This is good news,” a TMT spokesman said. “We appreciate the Board of Land and Natural Resources for its selection and look forward to the next steps in the process.”
Amano, 63, was a judge in the Big Island district and circuit courts from February 1992 until her retirement in April 2003. The Hilo native earned her law degree from the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law in 1979. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she was a deputy attorney general and private practice attorney.
Any comments about and objections to this appointment should be filed no later than 4:30 p.m. April 15 at the DLNR Administrative Proceedings Office, 1151 Punchbowl St., Room 130, Honolulu, HI 96813.
