WAILUKU - A key figure in the dispute over the $80 million estate of Laurence "Baron" Dorcy was ordered Wednesday to submit to a deposition, even though he objected that he risked incriminating himself in either the Dorcy matter or in the Ko Hawaii Pae Aina fraud case in U.S. District Court, where he is a defendant.
Petro Hoy waited in the hall at 2nd Circuit Court but did not appear in Judge Shackley Raffetto's courtroom.
Attorney Cynthia Wong, representing the probate and trust estates of the second will benefiting Hans Kanuha, related the history of a deposition in May, telling Raffetto that transcripts show that Hoy had already answered the two questions the lawyers may want to ask him now - even though with a trial scheduled for March, the deadline for taking depositions is past.
But when she mentioned that Hoy had walked out on that session, Raffetto quickly said, "He walked out?"
He never got a direct answer, but Wong indicated he had quit answering on Fifth Amendment grounds.
Hoy was represented by Dana Ishibashi of Honolulu, who said he was concerned about the federal charges.
Hoy was charged in May with alleged mortgage fraud against mostly Native Hawaiians along with Mahealani Ventura-Oliver and others. But Raffetto also was told that Hoy is a cooperating witness in that case and not really a target of the federal prosecutors.
Ishibashi said Hoy might possibly be faced with self-incrimination in either matter, although so far the Dorcy matter is a probate and trust dispute and no one has been charged with a crime.
Ishibashi also said Hoy has recently been diagnosed with metastasizing melanoma, a cancer, along with previous serious medical conditions.
Isaac Hall, representing the relatives of Dorcy and numerous charities that were named in his earlier will, asked Raffetto to ensure that Hoy appears by setting an exact time and place for the questioning: between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Maui Coast Hotel.
A mediation session between the parties and former 2nd Circuit Judge John McConnell is scheduled for the following day.
Wong said the questions she believes Hall and attorney Michael Rudy want to ask are: Was Hoy ever known as C.B. Hansen? And, did he ever present himself as Henry Rice?
She said he had already testified that Dorcy had called him C.B. Hansen (a figure in Dorcy's world of "international intrigue") but had denied posing as Rice.
Hoy is a neighbor and friend of Kanuha, named as sole beneficiary in revisions of Dorcy's trusts and will made about one year ago, a few months before Dorcy died.
The heirs in the earlier will allege that Kanuha exercised undue influence on the aging and sick Dorcy, though Kanuha has denied that.
The method alleged is that Dorcy wanted to be accepted by Maui's successful kamaaina businessmen, and that Kanuha claimed he could help him recruit banker and rancher Rice to help with Dorcy's foundation.
According to their allegations, Hoy posed, first over the telephone and later in person, as Rice in order to trick Dorcy.
