The high-profile federal prosecution of three former Honolulu officials on conspiracy charges, which ended in admissions of guilt this year, was based on a faulty premise, according to a court opinion penned by the acting chief justice of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court. Key to the prosecution, led by San Diego-based prosecutor Michael Wheat, was the idea that the officials needed permission from the Honolulu City Council to make the deal. In a court opinion published Tuesday, the day before she became acting chief justice, Sabrina McKenna suggests the load-bearing theory of the criminal case is wrong. “City law did not require City Council approval of Kealoha’s retirement agreement in the first place,” McKenna wrote. Hawaii State Supreme Court Acting Chief Justice Sabrina McKenna offered her unsolicited opinion on the merits of Leong’s criminal case.