Island stories.
Closer to the facts.
The cases behind the headlines.
Original briefs on Hawaiʻi’s history of crime, accountability, and the people affected.
A mailbox, a family, and the misuse of police power.
A stolen-mailbox accusation became a federal case about a relative being framed, and the officials who used their authority against him.
Read the case brief ↗Follow the story.
Check the record.
13 case briefs
CONTEXT PHOTOWhen legislative influence carried a price.
Two lawmakers’ federal cases documented bribery tied to legislative action, followed by separate prison sentences.
CONTEXT PHOTOA mailbox, a family, and the misuse of police power.
A stolen-mailbox accusation became a federal case about a relative being framed, and the officials who used their authority against him.
CONTEXT PHOTOLarry Mehau: influence, allegations, and no criminal charges.
Mehau’s political reach attracted decades of scrutiny. The absence of criminal charges is central to an accurate account.
CONTEXT PHOTOMoney set aside for a final promise.
RightStar’s legal troubles raised a practical question for families: what happened to money paid ahead for funeral and cemetery services?
CONTEXT PHOTOA public parking lot. A deadly gambling dispute.
The 2004 Pali Golf Course shootings left two men dead and another wounded. The federal case examined violence tied to illegal gambling.
CONTEXT PHOTOFrom major investor to bankruptcy and a fraud plea.
A Honolulu investor’s bankruptcy connected local assets with creditors abroad and in Nevada. Later reporting recorded guilty pleas to fraud.
CONTEXT PHOTOThe essay that challenged a powerful institution.
Five community figures publicly questioned Bishop Estate’s governance. The resulting debate reached the attorney general and the courts.
CONTEXT PHOTOWhen a land-use battle returned to the ballot.
A Kauaʻi resort-development dispute moved between voters and courts, raising questions about zoning and the financing of a special election.
CONTEXT PHOTOFour killings. A life sentence. The Ronald Ching record.
The deaths of Larry Kuriyama, Charles Marsland III, Arthur Baker, and Robert Fukumoto became part of one killer’s criminal record.
CONTEXT PHOTOWhen an underworld figure agreed to testify.
Henry Huihui’s 1984 guilty pleas moved organized-crime investigations from accusations toward admissions, and a cooperating witness.
CONTEXT PHOTOKukui Plaza: a prosecution without a conviction.
A city redevelopment project led to a bribery indictment against Mayor Frank Fasi. The charges were later dropped, a fact central to the story.
CONTEXT PHOTOThe tax case, and the sentence the appeal changed.
The appellate opinion in Wilford Pulawa’s tax case shows why the first sentence in a news story may not be the final legal outcome.
CONTEXT PHOTOOne hour: justice and power in territorial Hawaiʻi.
Joseph Kahahawai’s killing and the commutation of his killers’ sentences remain a stark chapter in Hawaiʻi’s justice history.
The record comes before the retelling.
These are short, original case briefs built from public sources, not excerpts or chapter adaptations from a book. Allegations, convictions, dismissals, and institutional criticism are labeled separately. Historical outcomes do not establish present-day custody status.
About our approach →Watch the story. Read the record.
Start with The Company, then follow Pulawa’s tax appeal in the source opinion.
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