A state judge on Wednesday refrained from sanctioning a Honolulu city attorney who used a fictional legal citation in an attempt to persuade the judge to prevent a jury from hearing a high-profile civil rights case against the city.
Instead, Hawaiʻi Circuit Court Judge Karin Holma issued a warning.
“Don’t do it again,” Holma told Honolulu Deputy Corporation Counsel David Sgan, who had based the city’s legal argument on fictional law.
But Holma stopped short of fully addressing what she called “the big elephant in the room.”…