Today, we filed the Opening Brief in County of Hawaii v. Richards, No. 28882, the consolidated appeal from two eminent domain lawsuits filed by the County in 2000 and 2005. I won’t go into detail about the case and will let the brief speak for itself since I am part of the legal team representing the appellant/property owner.
The issues in the case include:
- application of Haw. Rev. Stat. § 101-27 (1993), the statute that provides that the government must make a property owner whole and pay damages when an attempt to take property by eminent domain is discontinued or dismissed
- whether the government may concurrently prosecute more than one condemnation lawsuit at the same time
- the standards for demonstrating that the government’s claim of public use is pretext to hide private benefit
The brief, minus Appendices, is posted here (1.8mb pdf)
A link to the trial court’s findings, along with a summary of the case is posted here.
Update 5/17/2008: The County has filed its Answering Brief which is posted here.