Kurt Butler's Plea to Hawaii State Legislators

September 25, 2022

Dear Senator …………

The issue I address in this letter should be one of the most important for the 2023 legislative session. If the incidents recounted here don’t make your blood boil, ask your doctor if you still have a heart. I learned the hard way that Hawaii law does not adequately protect, defend and advocate for crime victims. Here I illustrate the problem with real cases in which I was the victim.

Case #1.  I was lawfully demonstrating (holding a sign, offering flyers), peacefully and quietly, on a public sidewalk next to the parking lot of a “health food” store in Kahului. My sign and my flyers objected to the store owners’ claims, in radio infomercials, that their pills can cure and prevent essentially all diseases, including advanced cancers and HIV/AIDS. They also rail against all vaccinations. As a retired professional nutritionist (MS from UH), I felt an obligation to blow the whistle on the scammers since the state health department refused to rein them in.

A store security guard (SG) in the parking lot unlawfully yelled at me to leave the area. When I refused the SG came onto the sidewalk and viciously assaulted me, cracking several ribs and shredding my left rotator cuff while nearly smothering me to death with his immense weight. He was half my age and twice my size, 320 pounds to my 160. I underwent shoulder surgery and was disabled and in pain for 18 months.

There were plenty of witnesses, including two police officers, and lots of evidence, but instead of arresting the assailant the police greeted him like an old friend, which it turned out he was. Also, the police refused my request that they question the store owners as suspects, responsible for the crime of conspiracy to intimidate and assault. I asked the prosecutor at the time, Ben Acob, why he allowed this travesty to occur, in the following open letter posted as a blog.   www.BenAcob.blogspot.com.

Case #2   I was hired by a woman to renovate a cottage in Wailuku. I was unaware that she was a drug addict and con artist. When I finished, she refused to pay (about $500) and concocted a fantastic scheme to get me arrested to prevent my taking legal action. She filed a perjured TRO petition against me, then lied to the police, claiming I had violated the automatic ex parte order. She tricked the police into arresting me. I spent a hellish 30 days in jail, MCCC. 

I was finally taken from jail to court for the hearing on the TRO. After hearing both sides the judge called the petitioner a liar, denied her petition, dissolved the ex parte order and set me free. When I tried to lodge a criminal complaint to the police for her perjury (which was easy to prove), false reporting and fraud, the police said they have a policy of not filing complaints of perjury.

So this woman, who essentially had me kidnapped and tormented for 30 days, paid no price whatsoever. Maui Corporation Counsel Moana Lutey played a major role in this outcome. I provide a summary of Lutey’s crimes in the following blog. www.MoanaLutey.blogspot.com.

Case #3  In this case a drunken maniac (“Doug”) across the hall from me bashed his way into my apartment, attacked me in a rage, cracked 3 ribs, and caused a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). A witness called 911. The police and the EMTs arrived at the same time and the medics saw that I was seriously injured. While I was rushed to the hospital the police stayed and talked to the assailant. I would be hospitalized for two weeks. 

 On the third day in bed I felt strong enough to call the police and tell them I was ready to make a statement about what had happened. However, a sergeant told me they had already determined that it was a case of disorderly conduct. They believed the lies of a man who was obviously drunk at 9 in the morning, without even talking to me. I objected strongly and said they had it all wrong and insisted on making a statement. I would call every day and make the same request, that a police officer come to my bedside and record my statement. My request was always denied, firmly and rudely. 

 So, I had a social worker familiar with the case come see me and help me persuade the police that they should talk to me. For three days straight she came to my room and helped me nag MPD. After that she gave up, but I continued to call every day. On the 14th day I told the sergeant that I was going to sue MPD, the county and several officers including her for obstruction of justice. 

 They had an officer in my room within a couple hours. Later, after the police charged Doug with assault in the second degree, I had to do much the same kind of nagging and agitating with the prosecutors. If I hadn’t done so I don’t believe the assailant would have finally been arrested and indicted.

 It’s important to note that without a conviction, unless a victim has thousands of dollars for a retainer, he or she has almost no hope of hiring an attorney to sue for compensatory and punitive damages. Crime victims are commonly denied both criminal and civil justice. 

 For years following the crimes described above I have suffered anxiety, depression, insomnia, nightmares, crying spells and suicidal thoughts. I have been diagnosed with PTSD and I’ve been in therapy for many years.

The question still haunts me and keeps me awake at night: WHY? Those bastards swore to uphold the law and protect our constitutional rights, but they have repeatedly violated their oaths of office and done everything possible to sabotage, obstruct and deny me any measure of justice. They actively aid and abet the criminals. WHY?

 As with rape victims, the pain and anger never completely go away. Decades later it still hurts. I could provide many more examples. The problem is endemic and it endangers the basic rights of all Hawaii residents.

 In Hawaii law, crime victims’ rights specify monetary restitution and victims’ impact statements. Unfortunately, the law says nothing about a victim’s right to a thorough and competent investigation, and prosecution of the perpetrators of the crime. Yet, without this right all the others mean nothing.

 If the police don’t like a crime victim, they can simply refuse to pass the complaint up to the prosecutor. And a prosecutor can likewise arbitrarily refuse to even interview a seriously injured crime victim, as Ben Acob did in my case (#1 above). Unless this situation is fixed, Hawaii cannot claim to be a state of laws.

As I approach age 80 I implore you and all Hawaii State legislators to give meaning to my years of suffering and let my pain not have been in vain. I grew up in Hawaii (Molokai, Kailua) and I don’t want to die hating this place.

It is self-evident that crime victims must be allowed to pursue criminal cases when prosecutors arbitrarily, maliciously or out of laziness refuse to do so. I don’t know whether this would require a whole new Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights, including a private-prosecutor provision, or merely tweaking existing law. Please contact me if you agree that we need reform.

I don’t know whether this would require a whole new Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights, including a private-prosecutor provision, or merely tweaking existing law. Please contact me if you agree that we need reform. 

Kurt Butler, Makawao, Maui, Hawaii