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Kauaians could be liable for $362K in damages
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| Ka‘iulani Edens-Huff looks over Hawaiian burials found on the home site of landowner Joseph Brescia in this 2008 file photo. She and others looked after the site for several months from a camp in Ha‘ena, allegedly causing construction delays in the process and other ‘damages’ for which Brescia now wants to be compensated. Dennis Fujimoto/ The Garden Island |
Ha‘ena landowner sues residents guarding burials
By Paul C. Curtis - The Garden Island
LIHU‘E — After motions were heard Friday in the trespassing, conspiracy and slander of title case involving a Ha‘ena property that includes dozens of Native Hawaiian remains, the case has been scheduled for trial in October 2010.
Some of the defendants in the case may be on the hook for upwards of $350,000 in damages due to construction delays the trespassing caused, said attorneys on both sides of the heated dispute.
The case, Joseph Brescia vs. Ka‘iulani Edens-Huff et al (and others), involves Brescia’s North Shore coastal property, where Hawaiian remains, or iwi, were discovered.
Although Brescia redesigned plans for the home in order to avoid the remains, protesters have camped near his property and, in at least one case, have been arrested for trespassing on the property where he has been trying to build a home for seven years.
Among the motions granted last week by 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe were Brescia’s ones to name certain Kauaians in the trespassing suit by default, and to order them not to trespass or obstruct construction.
The motions also affirmed that many of those named in the case, including Edens-Huff, have no title to Brescia’s property, as they had argued.
Motions to set aside the charges by attorneys for Edens-Huff, Hale Mawae, Dane Gonsalves and Andrew Cabebe were denied, meaning they could be found liable at trial for some or all of the damages resulting in their roles in hindering construction at the site, said Camille Kalama of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, representing another defendant, Jeff Chandler.
Edens-Huff and many of the other named defendants can’t challenge any of the accusations made against them at next year’s trial, and will be allowed only to contest the amount of damages owed, as a result of Watanabe’s Friday rulings on the various motions, Kalama said.
Defendants including Chandler and Puanani Rogers have filed third-party claims against various state agencies, claiming the state entities failed to follow historic burial procedures, Kalama continued.
Watanabe also granted a motion by Brescia’s attorneys to make defendants pay around $1,600 as the cost of Brescia’s attorneys’ transportation fees to come to Kaua‘i from O‘ahu for one scheduled court appearance, Kalama said.
“The case is not over as far as money damages,” said Philip Leas, an O‘ahu-based attorney for Brescia. “The damages flow from interrupting construction,” said Leas, who added that construction has already begun, and the property is not currently on the market as for sale.
Efforts to reach Edens-Huff and Daniel Hempey, her attorney, were unsuccessful by press time.
Some of the defendants in the case may be on the hook for upwards of $350,000 in damages due to construction delays the trespassing caused, said attorneys on both sides of the heated dispute.
The case, Joseph Brescia vs. Ka‘iulani Edens-Huff et al (and others), involves Brescia’s North Shore coastal property, where Hawaiian remains, or iwi, were discovered.
Although Brescia redesigned plans for the home in order to avoid the remains, protesters have camped near his property and, in at least one case, have been arrested for trespassing on the property where he has been trying to build a home for seven years.
Among the motions granted last week by 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe were Brescia’s ones to name certain Kauaians in the trespassing suit by default, and to order them not to trespass or obstruct construction.
The motions also affirmed that many of those named in the case, including Edens-Huff, have no title to Brescia’s property, as they had argued.
Motions to set aside the charges by attorneys for Edens-Huff, Hale Mawae, Dane Gonsalves and Andrew Cabebe were denied, meaning they could be found liable at trial for some or all of the damages resulting in their roles in hindering construction at the site, said Camille Kalama of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, representing another defendant, Jeff Chandler.
Edens-Huff and many of the other named defendants can’t challenge any of the accusations made against them at next year’s trial, and will be allowed only to contest the amount of damages owed, as a result of Watanabe’s Friday rulings on the various motions, Kalama said.
Defendants including Chandler and Puanani Rogers have filed third-party claims against various state agencies, claiming the state entities failed to follow historic burial procedures, Kalama continued.
Watanabe also granted a motion by Brescia’s attorneys to make defendants pay around $1,600 as the cost of Brescia’s attorneys’ transportation fees to come to Kaua‘i from O‘ahu for one scheduled court appearance, Kalama said.
“The case is not over as far as money damages,” said Philip Leas, an O‘ahu-based attorney for Brescia. “The damages flow from interrupting construction,” said Leas, who added that construction has already begun, and the property is not currently on the market as for sale.
Efforts to reach Edens-Huff and Daniel Hempey, her attorney, were unsuccessful by press time.
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interesting wrote on May 7, 2009 10:12 AM: