Thirteen years of legal wrangling that began after a state corrections officer allegedly sexually molested a transgendered inmate at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center may finally be over, with the result that the state will have to pay more than $90,000 to the former inmate and her lawyers.

Circuit Judge Sabrina Mc-Kenna in 2000 ordered former corrections officer Dana Lynn Taylor, Taylor's supervisor and the state to pay $310,000 in the case.

McKenna also ruled the deputy attorney general who was defending the state in the case had committed "gross misconduct" by failing to turn over records that had been subpoenaed in the case, including the inmate's medical records and portions of prison internal affairs and police reports.

The inmate, who was awaiting trial at the time on drug charges in the men's portion of OCCC, had breasts and male genitals but a "self-identity and outward appearance (of a) female," according to McKenna's ruling. The name of the inmate was withheld from court records, and a spokeswoman for the state judiciary said the file for the case has been sealed.

According to McKenna's decision and another public ruling by the state Supreme Court, Taylor in 1993 squeezed and fondled the breasts of the inmate, and when the inmate complained, retaliated by strip-searching the transgendered prisoner in view of whistling and cheering inmates.

Carl Varady, a lawyer who represented the transgendered prisoner, said the drug charges that landed the inmate at OCCC in the first place were later dropped. The inmate sued in 1995 after she was released, and she now lives in California.

McKenna found that Taylor's supervisor, Harry Tanouye, failed to order Taylor to stay away from the former prisoner, and "minimized" the actions of the corrections officer.

Taylor had a history of misconduct, and the Department of Public Safety had unsuccessfully tried to fire Taylor before any of the incidents involving the transgendered inmate.

A prison disciplinary committee concluded in 1991 that Taylor had used cocaine while in uniform away from his post, and had allegedly kidnapped another prisoner who was on supervised release and sexually assaulted her, according to McKenna's ruling. However, Taylor was reinstated with back pay when that firing was overturned in 1992 on procedural grounds.

Taylor, 48, finally lost his OCCC job in 1993 after he was arrested by federal authorities for accepting 3 ounces of crystal methamphetamine at Ala Moana Center. The drug deal was actually part of a federal sting operation, and Taylor was sentenced to five years in federal prison. He was released in 1999 after serving his sentence.

Lawyers for the state argued that the records in the OCCC molestation case were not turned over because of an oversight, and both sides appealed McKenna's decision. The state Supreme Court upheld most of the judgment in 2005, but ordered a new trial to recalculate some of the damages.

The second trial in 2006 resulted in a judgment of nearly $426,000 against Tanouye and Taylor, and more than $87,000 against the state. With interest, the state share is now nearly $92,000.

Louis Mendonca, a lawyer who represented the inmate, said the judgment against Tanouye and Taylor has grown to more than $650,000 with interest, and Tanouye has asked that the state indemnify him and take responsibility for his share of the judgment.

So far, the only money paid in connection with the judgment in the case was a $7,500 sanction paid by the state last year for misconduct during the trial, Varady said.

"It's about as bad as it gets, and to be here 10 years later still trying to collect, I can only tell you is unfortunate," Varady said.

The state attorney general's office last week asked state lawmakers to set aside money to pay the state's share of the judgment in the case.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.