Judge to decide if high-profile case should be delayed because of murder-for-hire probe

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The attorney accused of trying to order a hit on a federal judge and prosecutor wants her trial in a high-profile bribery trial pushed back again.

Sheri Tanaka’s lawyer told U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess, a senior district judge for Alaska, that she cannot get an impartial jury in Hawaii given the publicity over a new, murder-for-hire investigation.

Burgess is presiding over the case because U.S. District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright recused himself just weeks before trial. Seabright is considered a witness or victim in the murder-for-hire investigation.

“This is pretty sensational, I do admit,” said Alexander Silvert, a retired federal public defender.

But Silvert said he does believe the courts can find a large amount of impartial citizens to seat a jury.

“Over my 37 years working in federal court, even with cases that have received a lot of publicity, we seem to be readily able to find jurors who haven’t watched the news or don’t have an opinion.”

That wasn’t the only argument made by Tanaka’s defense team in court Monday.

Attorney Mark Mermelstein told the court his client also isn’t prepared to go to trial because the new investigation has been a distraction and the FBI seized Tanaka’s phone and laptop while executing search warrants on January 23. Mermelstein said the devices contained information crucial for trial.

To that, Burgess asked why that information wasn’t backed up or provided to the defense team.

Silvert also asked why that would warrant another trial date.

“It’s been so long and the lawyer should be ready to go,” Silvert said.

Tanaka’s co-defendants in the bribery case do not want another delay.

The others include former city prosecuting attorney Keith Kaneshiro and four, executives with the politically connected engineering firm Mitsunaga and Associates.

The others want the trial to proceed as scheduled on March 12. According to the attorney for one of the executives, they want their day in court to clear their names.

Tanaka was the attorney for Mitsunaga and Associates when they were all indicted for bribery-related charges.

Tanaka wants the court to allow her case to be severed so she can get her own trial and give her team more time to prepare.

The government opposes that request.

Silvert said a second trial would be time consuming, “The government has to bring all the same witnesses back for a second time. So it is a really big deal.”

Silvert said it might be appropriate and fair, under certain circumstances.

Tanaka is under investigation in the contract killer case, which is being investigated by the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Honolulu office recused. No charges have been filed in that case.

Mermelstein said last week that Tanaka was actually the victim of extortion and that she paid someone after she and her family were threatened.

Judge Burgess is expected to rule soon regarding the issues of severance and delay.

All sides agreed that potential jurors could undergo a third questionnaire to include the new allegations and the attorneys could have more time to screen the jurors for bias to ensure an impartial jury can be seated.