Defense attorney Thomas Otake cross-examined former Mitsunaga & Associates Inc. architect Laurel Mau Tuesday about dozens of emails between herself and clients for various side jobs she conducted while on company time.

Mau, who is one of the government’s central witnesses in the bribery trial of former Honolulu prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro and five other defendants, worked for the architecture firm for 15 years before she was abruptly fired in 2011. 

Her former employers said she stole from the company by conducting side jobs using Mitsunaga & Associates’ resources. She was charged with four counts of second-degree theft in 2012. 

Prosecutors say the charges were phony, and Kaneshiro’s office only pursued the case after the firm’s CEO Dennis Mitsunaga funneled thousands of dollars in donations to Kaneshiro’s campaign. 

During Mau’s previous two days of testimony, special prosecutor Michael Wheat tried to show that taking side jobs was normal practice at the firm and highlighted occasions when Mau did side jobs for family and friends, including Mitsunaga himself, and took no pay for her work. 

But Otake’s line of questioning Tuesday attempted to show that Mau was doing the jobs without permission and in violation of company policy. He highlighted dozens of emails Mau sent from her Mitsunaga & Associates email address during her work day using her company computer to clients for jobs that had nothing to do with the company. Otake is representing Mitsunaga & Associates president Chad Michael McDonald, who is also a defendant in the case.

Otake said that the company’s allegations against Mau have been consistent. In an unemployment insurance case, a civil lawsuit Mau brought against the firm after her termination and the criminal case, Mitsunaga & Associates took issue with the fact that she did the jobs using the firm’s name, time, resources and equipment. 

“What was raised in these three proceedings,” he said, “was not a criticism of you for helping your grandma, auntie and uncle, but that you were doing them on company time.” 

He pointed out one instance when she sent multiple emails related to a side job during the day and still billed Mitsunaga & Associates for eight hours of work. 

Otake also focused on emails sent between Mau and Stanford Masui, a Honolulu lawyer representing a client Mau was working with to install an elevator lift at a residence in 2011. 

Masui ended up suing Mau and Mitsunaga & Associates over the project. 

Otake asked if Mitsunaga & Associates had anything to do with the project, other than Mau using her work email to communicate with the clients. 

Mau replied that another Mitsunaga & Associates employee was also working on the project. 

When asked if he was doing so in his capacity as an employee of the firm, she said she didn’t think so but that he was also using his company email address. 

Otake also showed the jury sections of the Mitsunaga & Associates employee handbook that discussed the company’s policy on “moonlighting.” 

“At Mitsunaga & Associates (moonlighting) is not encouraged because of the potential for conflict of interest, unfavorable reflection on the firm, adverse effect on your job performance and interference with your daily workload at the company,” the passage says. 

The handbook goes on to list rules that employees must follow if they do choose to take jobs outside of their company assignments, including that they must get permission from a supervisor and that side jobs must not be performed during work hours or using office equipment. 

“You made it a habit to work on side jobs unrelated to (Mitsunaga & Associates) during business hours, correct?” Otake said. 

“Yes,” Mau answered. 

Otake also drew connections between Mau and Honolulu architect William Wong, who is currently serving a federal prison sentence for bribing county permitting workers.

Wong worked with Mau on the elevator lift project, and at one point, Masui gave Mau a check to pay the workers on the project, including Wong, who was in charge of submitting applications for permits, Otake said. 

Mau deposited a $7,000 check and then took out cash to give to Wong, Otake said. 

“Instead of writing a check to Mr. Wong for seven grand, you took out seven grand in cash?” Otake asked. 

“Yes,” Mau said. 

Otake said Wong applied for the permit around Thanksgiving 2010 and received an approval in January 2011, implying it was an unusually fast turnaround time.  

Otake then tried to poke holes in testimony Mau gave last week that she often worked between 50 and 80 hours per week for Mitsunaga & Associates, despite only being allowed to put 40 hours on her timesheet.

He showed the jury emails between Mau and other employees at the firm about an assignment she had involving the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex at the University of Hawaii and an Oct. 3, 2011, deadline she was supposed to meet. 

He pulled up an email sent from the firm’s chief operating officer Aaron Fujii, who is also a defendant in the case, on Oct. 3, 2011, asking how long it was going to take Mau to complete the requested task. 

“This request has been around for a bit,” the email says. 

“Was this one of the weeks where you worked 60, 70, 80 hours a week to meet the deadline?” Otake asked. 

Judge Timothy Burgess said the trial would be on break for the rest of the week. Cross-examination of Mau will continue on Monday.

Kaneshiro, McDonald, Fujii and Mitsunaga, as well as Mitsunaga & Associates attorney Sheri Tanaka and secretary Terri Ann Otani, are all charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and violate a person’s rights. They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.