A judge is forcing Hawaii to give wildfire investigation documents to lawyers handling lawsuits

HONOLULU– A judge on Friday forced the Hawaii attorney general’s office to turn over all documents, interviews and data collected by the outside team hired to investigate the disaster to attorneys involved in the hundreds of lawsuits over the wildfires in Maui last summer.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs suing over the August fires filed a motion last month asking a judge to force the state to provide them with materials collected by the Fire Safety Research Institute, which was hired by the state to to do research.

The state refused, saying making the data public would “jeopardize and hinder” the investigation. In court documents opposing the motion, the state called the request “premature, baseless and frivolous” and asked a judge to order that attorneys’ fees be paid to the state for defending the motion.

Shortly after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the historic city of Lahaina, killing 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, saying the emergency management agency chief was making efforts to return to the island amid the developing crisis, while creating a widespread communications breakdown. authorities in the dark and residents without emergency warnings.

During a hearing Friday on the island of Maui, Deputy Attorney General David Matsumiya told Judge Peter Cahill that the state is concerned that releasing information could prompt the six people who have not yet been interviewed to change their stories.

Cahill refused.

“Do you really believe this is going to happen?” he asked, clearly upset. “And what if they change their stories? Aren’t they entitled to that?”

Cahill appeared to raise concerns about the investigation, including whether people interviewed were told they were not required to answer questions.

“By the way, the taxpayers are paying for this,” the judge continued.

Lopez said last month that the research contract would initially not exceed $1.5 million, but because they were behind schedule, the contract was extended for another year.

Cahill told Matsumiya that he understands the state’s concerns, but not providing the information to attorneys would delay the lawsuits. The investigation is important, and it was a wise investment to hire an outside agency since the state does not have a fire marshal, he said, “but it is also important that people have their day in court.”

Cahill noted that there are approximately 400 lawsuits involving thousands of plaintiffs.

“It frustrates the litigation process,” Cahill said, “which is also a mechanism for seeking the truth.”

David Minkin, an attorney representing Maui County, suggested to the judge that the investigative process was tainted.

Investigators “showed up in Lahaina, said we were here from the AG’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 is intended to create a better future for Lahaina and all those people in Lahaina.”

But Cahill responded that “the past must also be taken into account in this case, given what happened on this island,” and that court cases will determine whether there was a breach of legal duty.

At a separate hearing later Friday to discuss coordination of the lawsuits, Cahill said a handful of lawsuits will go to trial in November.