County of Kaua'i v. Kanahele

• Court: Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
• Decided: September 29, 2025
• Docket: CAAP-23-0000567
• Status: Published

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed Intermediate Court of Appeals CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX 29-SEP-2025 08:06 AM Dkt. 43 SO NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI I

COUNTY OF KAUA I, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. TOM KANAHELE, Defendant-Appellant, and ALISON KANAHELE; DEAR KANAHELE; LAUAE KANAHELE; GWENDOLYN P. HOLI; and NOLAND HOLI, Defendants-Appellees, and NA OHANA AT SALT PONDS; GENE TAMASHIRO; and ANDREW CABEBE, Purported Interested Parties-Appellants, and JOHN DOES 1-30 AND JANE DOES 1-30, Defendants

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE FIFTH CIRCUIT LĪHU E DIVISION (CASE NO. 5DRC-XX-XXXXXXX)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER (By: Leonard, Presiding Judge, McCullen and Guidry, JJ.) Defendant-Appellant Tom Kanahele (Kanahele) and

Purported Interested Parties-Appellants Gene Tamashiro

(Tamashiro) and Andrew Cabebe (Cabebe) (together referred to as

Appellants) appeal from the October 10, 2023 Writ of Possession

and Judgment for Possession entered by the District Court of the

Fifth Circuit (District Court).1 Appellants also challenge the

District Court's October 10, 2023 Order Granting Plaintiff County

of Kauai's (County's) Motion for Summary Judgment [(MSJ)] and For

Writ of Possession (Order Granting MSJ).

1 The Honorable Stephanie R. Char presided. NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Only Tamashiro filed an opening brief (OB). He has

identified himself variously as Defendant-Appellant and Secretary

General of Hawaii Transitional Governance. As noted in this

court's August 12, 2025 Order to Show Cause (OSC), Tamashiro and

Cabebe were not parties in the District Court proceedings. In an

August 19, 2025 response to the OSC (Response to OSC), Tamashiro

confirmed that he is not licensed to practice law in the State of

Hawai i. Kanahele also signed the Response to OSC, which states,

inter alia, that Tamashiro, Kanahele, and Cabebe are in the

process of abjuration/renunciation from the occupying foreign

corporations.

The OB fails to comply with Hawai i Rules of Appellate

Procedure Rule 28(b)(4), and states no points of error.

Liberally construed, the OB appears to contend that the District

Court erred in granting the County's MSJ and issuing the Writ of

Possession and Judgment for Possession because the District Court

lacked jurisdiction as the State of Hawai i (State) has no

authority to adjudicate the issue of land in Hawai i and the

State does not have title to the subject property due to the

continued sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Upon careful review of the record and the briefs

submitted by the parties, and having given due consideration to

the arguments advanced and the issues raised, we resolve this

appeal as follows:

Most liberally construing Kanahele's signature on the

Response to the OSC, it appears that Kanahele is attempting to

assert the issues raised in the OB.

2 NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

"The sovereignty of the State and its lawful

jurisdiction over the inhabitants of the State is a matter of law

that is well established." Coco Palms Hui LLC v. Mau-Espirito,

No. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX, 2019 WL 2021634, at *1 (Haw. App. May 8,

2019) (SDO), (quoting State v. Kaluau, No. 30460, 2011 WL

3805761, at *1 (Haw. App. Aug. 29, 2011) (SDO)). Accordingly,

the District Court had jurisdiction over this matter.

It is undisputed that the subject property is former

"Crown Land." It has been conclusively determined that former

Crown Lands are the property of the State. See, e.g., Section 99

of the Organic Act of April 30, 1900; Section 5 of the Admission

Act of March 18, 1959; Corboy v. Louie, 128 Hawai i 89, 91, 283

P.3d 695, 697 (2011). Accordingly, we conclude that the District

Court did not err in granting the County of Kauai's motion for

summary judgment.

For these reasons, the District Court's October 10,

2023 Writ of Possession and Judgment for Possession are affirmed.

The July 9, 2025 motion for retention of oral argument is denied.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawai i, September 29, 2025.

On the briefs: /s/ Katherine G. Leonard Presiding Judge Gene Tamashiro, Purported Interested Party- /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen Appellant. Associate Judge

Mark L. Bradbury, /s/ Kimberly T. Guidry Deputy County Attorney, Associate Judge County of Kaua i, for Plaintiff-Appellee.