Big Island Detective Charged With Perjury, Tampering With Government Record
Detective William Brown is accused of falsifying testimony before a grand jury in March.
A Hawaii island police detective has been charged with perjury and tampering with a government record after officials say he lied during a grand jury proceeding and submitted a false government record to the court, according to a press release from the Hawaii Police Department.
Detective William Brown was arrested Tuesday. He was released on his own recognizance and placed on leave without pay.
The department鈥檚 Office of Professional Standards began investigating Brown in July after learning of allegations that Brown falsified a government record and gave false testimony to a grand jury four months earlier, the release says. Brown was a detective with the department鈥檚 vice section at the time.
Brown was removed from his investigative assignment when the internal investigation began. That investigation is expected to conclude this month.
According to a criminal complaint, Brown gave false testimony during a grand jury proceeding on March 15 for a woman charged with counts related to distributing meth. He told grand jurors while under oath that the suspect had entered a vehicle with two items, a cellphone and a pink stuffed animal, according to a criminal complaint.
Brown did not believe this statement to be true at the time, the complaint says.
Days earlier, on March 12, he filed a document with the court containing the same statement.
The charges against the woman were later dismissed without prejudice.
In a statement, Hawaii island Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz said that, if proven, the accusations against Brown represent “a significant breach of the public trust.鈥
鈥淭he actions described in today鈥檚 court filing are not acceptable and are inconsistent with the department鈥檚 commitment to conduct business with the highest level of integrity,” he said.
Perjury is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine, according to a press release from state Attorney General Anne Lopez鈥檚 office. Tampering with a government record, a misdemeanor, carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and/or a $2,000 fine.
