A veteran police officer who became the Honolulu Police Department's first woman homicide detective has been cleared of allegations of wrongdoing that surfaced in a court trial last year and wants to return to her former job, her lawyer said yesterday.

Attorney David Hayakawa said his client, Sheryl Sunia, received a letter dated July 24 from HPD's Administrative Review Board stating that the allegations lodged against her were "unsubstantiated." The letter from the review board also said no disciplinary action would be taken against Sunia and that Police Chief Boisse Correa concurred with the board's conclusion, Haya-kawa said.

"Detective Sunia had her gun and her badge taken away from her and was reassigned to the communications division while the ARB considered the allegations against her," Hayakawa said.

The gun and badge were returned to her in December, and she was transferred to the sex crimes detail, a unit that falls administratively under HPD's Criminal Investigation Division.

Hayakawa said Sunia is now working within the Criminal Investigation Unit, but her current assignment amounts to a significant loss of stature within the department.

Sunia, who five years ago became a homicide detective, filed a federal lawsuit against the Honolulu Police Department in February alleging sexual harassment.

In the suit, Sunia said that after she complained about sexual harassment by fellow officers, retaliation came in the form of a false allegation that she committed perjury while testifying in a murder and robbery case in 2005. Her police powers were taken away and she was transferred to a desk job, according to the suit.

Sunia was not transferred back to the homicide unit even after the Attorney General's Office declined to prosecute her on perjury allegations, the suit claims.

The sexual harassment allegations stem from a police meeting in November 2004 at McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Park, the suit said. During the meeting, at which up to 90 police employees were in attendance, a detective described in detail about how a nurse fondled his genitals during a medical procedure, and a video of naked men skydiving was shown to the group, the suit said.

The suit asks for an unspecified amount of money.

Two other HPD officers, Alan Rivers and Sharolyn Rodrigues-Wong, joined in the suit. They alleged the department retaliated against them for their sexual harassment complaints in separate cases.

Michelle Yu, police spokeswoman, said the department had no comment about the Administrative Review Board's decision clearing Sunia. "It's a personnel matter, and (the department) does not comment on personnel matters," Yu said.

Sunia was the lead detective in the slaying of an 'Aiea man by three masked gunmen in 2003. Four men twice went on trial in that murder and robbery case, but the prosecution secured only a manslaughter conviction against one of them. The other charges were thrown out because two juries in the trial and retrial failed to reach unanimous verdicts on the other men.

The perjury allegation is tied to court proceedings during which Sunia and fellow homicide detective Larry Tamashiro gave different accounts in the handling of a ballistics report. Tamashiro testified that Sunia told him to backdate the report. Sunia denied giving such an order.

The suit alleges Sunia was treated differently from male detectives, including Tamashiro, who was not subjected to an investigation even though Sunia's lawyer submitted a letter to officials accusing Tamashiro of perjury.