HONOLULU– A judge on Friday forced the Hawaii attorney general’s office to turn over to lawyers involved in the hundreds of lawsuits over last summer’s wildfires on Maui all documents, interviews and data collected by the outside team hired to investigate the disaster. .
Lawyers representing plaintiffs suing over the August fires filed a motion last month asking a judge to force the state to provide them with material collected by the Fire Safety Research Institute, which was hired by the state to investigate.
The state refused, saying releasing the records would “jeopardize and complicate” the investigation. In court documents opposing the motion, the state called the request “premature, unfounded and frivolous” and asked a judge to order the payment of attorney fees to the state for defending against the motion.
Soon after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the historic city of Lahaina and killed 101 people, Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced the hiring of outside investigators. Last month, Lopez and representatives from the Fire Safety Research Institute released a report on the first phase of the investigation, which said the head of the emergency management agency was slow to return to the island amid the unfolding crisis, while a widespread collapse communications left authorities in the dark and residents without emergency alerts.
During a hearing Friday on the island of Maui, state Deputy Attorney General David Matsumiya told Judge Peter Cahill that the state is concerned that releasing information could lead the six people who have not yet been interviewed to change their stories.
Cahill hesitated.
“Do you really believe this will happen?” he asked, clearly upset. “So what if they change their stories? Don’t they have the right?”
Cahill appeared to indicate concerns about the investigation, including whether people interviewed were told they were not required to answer questions.
“By the way, taxpayers are paying for this,” the judge continued.
Lopez said last month that the investigative contract was initially not supposed to exceed $1.5 million, but because they were behind schedule, the contract was extended. Under an updated contract, the cost increased by $2.5 million, not to exceed a total of $4 million.
The judge’s order is a “grave concern,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement after the hearing.
“The independent and objective fact-finding and analysis process is critical to determining what city and state agencies must do to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again,” the statement said. “Premature release of these materials could allow external factors to influence the analysis.”
The attorney general is reviewing options and will soon decide on the appropriate course of action.
Cahill told Matsumiya he understands the state’s concerns, but not providing the information to lawyers would delay the litigation. The investigation is important and it was a wise investment to hire an outside agency since the state doesn’t have a fire marshal, he said, “but it’s also important for people to have their day in court.”
Cahill noted that there are about 400 lawsuits involving thousands of plaintiffs.
“The litigation process is frustrating,” Cahill said, “which is also a truth-seeking mechanism.”
David Minkin, an attorney representing Maui County, suggested to the judge that the investigative process was tainted.
Investigators “showed up in Lahaina, said we came from the attorney general’s office, and started talking to people” without informing them of their rights, he said.
Matsumiya said the state is trying to “protect the integrity of the investigation, which aims to create a better future for Lahaina and all people in Lahaina.”
But Cahill responded that “the past in this case, given what occurred on this island, also needs to be taken care of,” and that litigation will determine whether there was any legal breach of duty.
During a separate hearing Friday to discuss coordination of the proceedings, Cahill said several cases are scheduled to go to trial in November.
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