HONOLULU (AP) — The Hawaii attorney general's office must pay attorney fees for using last year's Maui wildfire tragedy to file a petition in “bad faith” that blamed a state court judge for a lack of water for firefighting, Hawaii's Supreme Court ruled.
It seems the state “tried to leverage the most horrific event in state history to advance its interests,” the ruling issued Thursday said.
The day after the historic town of Lahaina burned in a deadly August fire, the state attorney general's office, representing the Board of Land and Natural Resources, filed a petition alleging east Maui stream flow protections established by Judge Jeffrey Crabtree caused the water shortage.
“Naturally we paid attention,” said the unanimous opinion authored by Justice Todd Eddins. "The Department of the Attorney General initiated an original proceeding during an unthinkable human event. The petition advanced an idea that legal events impacted the nation’s most devastating wildfire.”
The Sierra Club of Hawaii complained the state exploited the tragedy to help a private company monopolize water, noting that east Maui reservoirs were of no use to west Maui, where a wildfire killed at least 101 people.
Maui County said they had more than enough water to fight the fires, the ruling noted.
A deputy attorney general refused to “walk back” the accusations, the ruling noted.
The state's “refusal to withdraw the meritless assertions, the flimsiness of its request for extraordinary relief, and its use of the Maui tragedy, support a finding of frivolousness and bad faith,” the ruling said.
The attorney general's office said in a statement that it “disagrees with the court's characterization and with its conclusions." It later added it will comply with the order.
Sierra Club attorney David Kimo Frankel said he estimates disproving the state’s claims cost about $40,000.
The ruling comes the day after state Attorney General Anne Lopez released a report into the fires saying a broad communications breakdown left authorities in the dark and residents without emergency alerts.
FILE - The sun shines through clouds over wildfire wreckage in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug. 10, 2023. The Hawaii Supreme Court says the state attorney general's office must pay attorney fees for using last year's Maui wildfire tragedy to file a petition in “bad faith” that blamed a state court judge for a lack of water for firefighting. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - The aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, is viewed Aug. 17, 2023. The Hawaii Supreme Court says the state attorney general's office must pay attorney fees for using last year's Maui wildfire tragedy to file a petition in “bad faith” that blamed a state court judge for a lack of water for firefighting. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson scored on a power-play after Tyler Seguin took a shot to the face, Jake Oettinger had another flawless finish and the Dallas Stars finally got a home win in these NHL playoffs.
Robertson's goal late in the second period put the Stars ahead to stay and they beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in Game 5 on Wednesday night. They now lead the series after the visitors had won each of the first four games.
“The resilience ... I think it’s great how we’ve been able to battle back,” said Wyatt Johnston, the 20-year-old forward who had two assists.
Evgenii Dadonov and Matt Duchene also scored for the Stars, who have won three in a row after dropping the first two games at home last week as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
“A credit to our group. You know, there wasn’t, a lot of believers at that point,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “We went on the road into a tough environment, and kind of rolled up our sleeves and went to work. And you look up and six days later you've got a 3-2 lead and a chance to close out the the Stanley Cup champions.”
Seguin was down on the ice and a bit dazed after Alex Pietrangelo took a big backhanded swing and connected to the face of the Stars forward when they were together against the boards. The play was initially called a five-minute major, but changed to a minor penalty after replay review.
Still, it was a major hit against the Knights. Robertson's third goal of the series came after he got his own ricochet and knocked the puck through traffic and past Adin Hill, the goalie starting his first game for the Knights this series.
Pietrangelo's hit was certainly some retaliation against Seguin, who had taken a penalty for an illegal check to the head of Shea Theodore earlier in the second period, another call that initially a major penalty downgraded after replay review.
“A veteran guy should know better,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said of Pietrangelo, while acknowledging his team wasn't happy about the hit on Theodore. “You’re going to be upset, but that’s playoff hockey. You’ve got to find a way to channel it.”
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots, including a nearly full-split save to deny Chandler Stephenson on a breakaway with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the game.
“I was on the ice watching that breakaway and said a prayer but I should have just trusted in Jake,” Seguin said.
“He really has the ability to go to another level at the most important time of the game,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “That was the third period tonight, hat was the third period the other night.”
Oettinger had 11 saves in the third period, and has stopped all 55 shots he has faced in the third period or overtime in this series.
Hill had 22 saves after Logan Thompson had started the first four games.
Mark Stone and William Carrier scored the goals for Vegas.
Game 6 is Friday night in Las Vegas, where the Stars won 3-2 in overtime in Game 3, then 4-2 in Game 4.
Vegas never trailed the Stars in the Western Conference Final last year, winning the first three games before wrapping up the series in six games.
Duchene scored on a power play for a 2-1 Dallas lead after a tripping penalty against Carrier. Seguin had a shot off the upper body of Hill, before Johnston got a stick on the puck that then pinged off a Vegas defender and was stuffed in by Duchene.
Knights captain Stone, playing his 73th playoff game for Vegas and his 100th overall in his career, put them up 1-0 with a power-play goal four minutes into the game. He redirected Noah Hanifin's shot between Tomas Hertl and Stars defenseman Esa Lindell, who were in front of Oettinger.
That lead lasted only only about a minute before Dadonov scored on a pass from rookie Logan Stankoven, who did some nifty stick work to push the puck ahead of defenseman Brayden McNabb sliding feet-first on the ice after falling down.
Carrier made it 2-2 when he withstood a hit from Lindell against the boards behind the net but kept possession of the puck and stuffed it around the post to Oettinger's left. They came inches from taking the lead after that when Brett Howden had a shot across the front of the goalie that ricocheted off the top of the other post.
Hill and Thompson had shared starts down the stretch during the regular season. Thompson has a .921 save percentage and allowed 2.35 goals per game this series, while Hill was 11-4 in the playoffs last season after taking over for injured Laurent Brossoit.
“He gave us a chance to win, did his job,” Cassidy said. “A well-goaltended series.”
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) and Miro Heiskanen (4) defend against a shot by Vegas Golden Knights' Chandler Stephenson (20) as Thomas Harley (55) looks on late in the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars' Jamie Benn (14), Evgenii Dadonov (63), goaltender Jake Oettinger, Matt Duchene (95) and Esa Lindell (23) celebrate the team's 3-2 win as Vegas Golden Knights' Nicolas Roy (10) and Michael Amadio (22) skate away in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Vegas Golden Knights' Chandler Stephenson prepares to shoot as Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) defends in the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars' Jason Robertson celebrates his goal with the bench in the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, left, and left wing Jamie Benn (1) defend the net against pressure from Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) in the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars center Logan Stankoven (11) works to take control of the puck against Vegas Golden Knights' Alex Pietrangelo (7), Alec Martinez (23) and Chandler Stephenson (20) in the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) makes a save against the Vegas Golden Knights during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill blocks a shot form the Dallas Stars in the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars' Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin, center right, and others celebrate a goal scored by Duchene as Vegas Golden Knights' Adin Hill (33) looks on in the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Fights break out between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars in the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars' Ryan Suter, left, and Sam Steel (18) work to take control of the puck against Vegas Golden Knights' Ivan Barbashev (49) and Nicolas Roy (10) in t he second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars' Tyler Seguin, left, is escorted off the ice by a staff member and Nils Lundkvist, after taking a hit to the face by Vegas Golden Knights' Alex Pietrangelo in the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Pietrangelo recieved a penalty on the play. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) looks on while Vegas Golden Knights right wing Michael Amadio (22) celebrates with teammates after his goal during the first period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill (33) blocks a shot under pressure from Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) in the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars center Sam Steel (18) is tripped by Vegas Golden Knights' William Carrier (28) in the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Carrier was issued a penalty on the play. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger clears the puck in the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars' Logan Stankoven (11), Evgenii Dadonov, second from left, and Wyatt Johnston (53) celebrate a goal by Dadonov as Vegas Golden Knights' Jack Eichel (9) skates past in the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
