Hart, Brook

Lawyer Overview

Areas of Practice

• Criminal Law; State and Federal Criminal Investigations, Trials, Appeals and Post-Conviction Representation

Representative Cases

• (RECENT) State of Hawaii v. John Doe, M.D., Representation of Hawaii physician accused of criminal sexual activity with his patient, after vigorous advocacy, investigation discontinued and prosecution declined by Hawaii prosecutors in the pre-grand jury phase; with the assistance of co-counsel, civil aspects of the case settled privately. (2003)
• (RECENT) United States v. Richard Roe Company, Inc., After United States FDA investigation lasting more than one year, and on the eve of a proposed indictment by the federal grand jury, with co-counsel extensively advocated to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii and representatives of the U.S.D.O.J. that no prosecution should commence. Federal prosecutors then agreed, determining that there should be no further investigation or prosecution. The company, accused of smuggling, FDA violations and other offenses, was vindicated. (2003-2004)
• (RECENT) United States v. One Unnamed Computer Software Engineer, This case involved advocacy over a fourteen-month period on behalf of a computer software engineer accused of the theft of computer related trade secrets. Result: In response to Mr. Hart’s advocacy, federal prosecutor declined to present the case to a federal grand jury; client vindicated. (2004)
• (RECENT) United States v. Rutledge, et al. (Unity House, Inc., In Receivership) Criminal No. 02-00438-DAE-BMK (D. Hawaii), U.S. prosecuted senior executives of a labor benefits corporation (assets: approximately $40 million). Charges included theft, tax evasion and racketeering accusations. Per court order, U.S. seized the organization and the court placed Unity House in receivership. Mr. Hart was appointed by the Chief Judge of the United States District Court, District of Hawaii, David Alan Ezra, to serve as General Counsel to the Receiver of Unity House. For twenty-three months Mr. Hart and his team directed the activities of numerous lawyers, accountants, and other professionals, to manage the assets of Unity House and pursue claims asserted by the Receiver on behalf of the seized corporation. The Receivership recovered more than $18 million for Unity House, Inc. Chief Judge Ezra characterized Mr. Hart’s efforts as the most successful Receivership that Judge Ezra had adjudicated during the then eighteen years that he had been a federal judge. (2004-2006)
• (RECENT) United States v. Chapman, et al. 459 F. Supp. 2d 1024 (D. Hawaii 2006), Extradition proceedings initiated when Mexico sought extradition of Hawaii residents Duane Lee Chapman, Leland Blane Chapman, and Timothy Charles Chapman, popular television personalities and stars of A&E TV’s “Dog, the Bounty Hunter.” The District Court (Kurren, MJ) found “special circumstances” and granted bail to the Respondents, pending final (successful) resolution of the extradition proceedings, and the underlying case pending in Mexico.
• (RECENT) State of Hawaii v. Adam Mau, Criminal Nos. 06-1-1393 and 08-1-0809 (First Circuit Court), Prosecution of mentally ill young man accused in an 18-count indictment, including triple murder, weapons, robbery, burglary, and theft offenses, and in a second separate indictment, with first-degree assault on a prison guard. Hawaii First Circuit Court (Del Rosario, J.) granted Defendant’s Motion to Suppress all evidence seized from the Defendant’s home pursuant to a warrant issued after Defendant was arrested at a location five miles from his home. After advocacy by Mr. Hart and his co-counsel, the client was ordered removed from prison confinement and remanded to the state hospital for mental health treatment and an attempt to restore his competency. (2006 to the present)
• (RECENT) United States v. Medical Corporation, Mr. Hart used diligent and creative advocacy to convince the government to charge a dermatologist’s medical corporation, instead of the dermatologist himself, with medical fraud. Thus, the dermatologist maintained his clean criminal record and was able to continue practicing medicine. (2007-2008)
• (RECENT) State of Hawaii v. Alleged Child Sexual Abuser, After Defendant's conviction while represented by another lawyer, and on the eve of a mandatory sentence of twenty years, Mr. Hart obtained bail pending appeal for the client and subsequently won an order on appeal to the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals vacating Defendant’s conviction of first-degree sexual assault of his juvenile daughter. On remand, Mr. Hart negotiated a deferred plea acceptance to a minor misdemeanor that enabled the Defendant to obtain dismissal of the charge and expungement of the record of his original arrest. (2006-2011)
• (RECENT) State of Hawaii v. Alvin Francis Jardine III, Criminal No. 91-0004, S.P.P. No. 10-1-0014 (Second Circuit Court) As co-counsel with the Hawaii Innocence Project, Mr. Hart advocated renewed DNA testing for Defendant wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and related offenses and imprisoned since 1991. New DNA testing excluded Defendant from the scene of the offense. In January of 2011, a petition to set aside conviction and for a new trial was granted by the Maui Circuit Court (August, J.), and the Defendant was released on bail. In July of 2011, the indictment was permanently dismissed when prosecutors declined further prosecution.

West Practice Categories

Criminal Defense

Bar Admissions

• Hawaii
• California
• New York
• U.S. District Court District of Hawaii
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Professional Associations and Memberships

• (Committee) Hawaii Public Defender Advocacy Institute, 1993 - Present
• Committee on Implementation of the Federal Criminal Justice Act Plan for the District of Hawaii, 1980 (Coordinator)
• (Committee) California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, 1978 - Present (Member)
• Committee to Select Federal Public Defender for District of Hawaii, 1981 - 1983, 1994
• (Committee) American Inns of Court IV, Hawaii, 1982 - Present (Bencher)
• (Committee) Supreme Court, Judicial Council of Hawaii Committee on Penal Code Revision and Reform, 1983 - 1985 (Member)
• (Committee) Hawaii State Judicial Conference, 1986 - 1988 (Member)
• (Committee) Hawaii Supreme Court Permanent Committee on Rules of Penal Procedure and Circuit Court Criminal Rules, 1984 - Present (Member)
• (Committee) Hawaii Supreme Court Permanent Committee on Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions, 1993 - 1996 (Member)
• (Committee) Hawaii State Bar Association (Member)
• (Committee) The State Bar of California (Member)
• (Committee) American Judicature Society (Member)
• (Committee) National Legal Aid and Defender Association (Member)
• (Committee) National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Life Member)
• (Committee) Hawaii Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Member)

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, American Board of Criminal Lawyers, 1980 - Present
• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, 2009 - Present
• The Best Lawyers in America, 1983 - Present
• Hawaii's A+ Attorneys, Honolulu Magazine, 1993 - Present (every edition containing this feature since 1993)
• The Reginald Heber Smith Award as the Outstanding Public Defender in the Nation, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, 1971

Classes and Seminars

• TAUGHT
• Speaker, Advanced Criminal Law Seminars, Aspen, Colorado, 1981, 1985, 1992, 1987
• Faculty, National Institute of Trial Advocacy, 1988
• Faculty, Hawaii Institute of Continuing Legal Education, 2000
• Speaker, NACDL Aspen CLE Seminar, 2001
• Faculty Member, ABA-LEI National Continuing Legal Education Conference, Vail, Colorado, 2005 - Present
• Adjunct Professor at the University of Hawaii Law School, Hawaii Innocence Project Seminar, Course Nos.: LAW 590S & 590T

Past Employment Positions

• (Prior to Law School) Hon. Martin Pence, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii, Law Clerk, 1966 - 1967
• (Prior to Law School) Law Offices of Hy Greenstein, Associate, 1968 - 1970
• (Prior to Law School) Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Chief Public Defender, 1970 - 1972
• (Prior to Law School) Hart, Sherwood, Leavitt, Blanchfield & Hall (and its progeny), Partner, 1972 - 1980
• (Prior to Law School) Hart & Wolff, Partner, 1980 - 1996

Education

• Columbia Law School, New York, New York
  LL.B.
• Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
  B.A.

Accepts Credit Cards

Published Works

• Hawaii's New Public Defender Legislation: A Study in Legislative Overkill (Co-Author), 8 Hawaii Bar Journal 53, 1971
• Report and Guidelines for the Defense of Eligible Persons, National Study Commission on Defense Services, NLADA-LEAA, 1975
• Preliminary Hearings, Public Defender Sourcebook, Singer, Ed., Chapter 5, PLI-ABA, 1976
• Profiles in Privacy: Airport Travelers, Drug Enforcement Agents and Detector Dogs (Co-Author), 3 Criminal Law Review 35, Clark Boardman & Co., 1981
• Champion Profile (Featured Criminal Defense Attorney), 16 The Champion 51, NACDL, July, 1992
• Plain Nonsense: Misrepresentations and Omissions in [Peter] Carlisle's and [Mark] Bennett's Article, Plain Error? (Co-Author), 2 Hawaii Bar Journal 32, Dec., 1998
• The Hawaii Supreme Court's Criminal Law Decisions 1997-1998: Fair Use of the Doctrine of Plain Error?, II Hawaii Bar Journal 49 (No. 13), 1998

Address

Melim Building
333 Queen Street
Suite 610
Honolulu, HI 96813-4716

Phones

808-526-0811

Faxes

808-531-2677

Emails

brookhartlaw@gmail.com