Jury dismisses suit against HPD chief's wife, awards her more than $650,000 in damages

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A jury took just a few hours to determine that a civil suit against the wife of Honolulu's Police Chief was unsubstantiated.

The jury didn't just dismiss the suit against Katherine Kealoha, they also awarded her $658,787 in damages.

Katherine Kealoha is the wife of HPD Chief Louis Kealoha and a high-ranking attorney in the Honolulu Prosecutors Office..

Mrs. Kealoha's uncle, Gerard Puana, and grandmother, Florence Puana, accused her of taking more than $200,000 from them, money left over after she helped them get a reverse mortgage.  Mrs. Kealoha said that was money she was owed after helping the uncle with a down payment for a condo since he didn't qualify for a loan.

The jury verdict orders Gerard Puana to pay Kealoha $210,000 in punitive damages, $200,000 in general damages, and $248,787 in special damages.

Both sides in the civil lawsuit had no comment as they left the courtroom following the verdict.

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