Illegal Arrest

The Hawaii Supreme Court upheld the prostitution conviction of an exotic dancer yesterday for performing a lap dance, even though the justices determined that her arrest had been illegal.

Honolulu police arrested Mary Ann Keawe on Aug. 14, 2002, during a raid of a Kona Street strip club for a lap dance she performed for an undercover police officer on July 25. On Jan. 22, 2003, she was convicted in Honolulu District Court.

The high court found that because police had waited 20 days to arrest Keawe, they should have obtained an arrest warrant.