A Hawaii County police detective was found guilty Wednesday of perjury following a jury-waived trial, the state Department of the Attorney General announced today.

Hawaii County Circuit Judge Peter Kubota found William Brown guilty of knowingly making a false statement as a detective during a grand jury proceeding in 3rd Circuit Court.

Brown testified falsely before a grand jury that the suspect, in a case where drugs were found in a vehicle, stated she brought a pink stuffed animal pencil-type case and her cellphone into the vehicle.

But the woman actually told Brown multiple times during an interview that she only brought her cellphone into the vehicle, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Most of the drugs were found in the pink stuffed animal pencil-type case.

“Our legal system is designed to find the truth,” Deputy Attorney General Albert Cook, who handled the prosecution of the case, said. “When witnesses lie, it undermines our legal system and perverts the integrity of the criminal justice system and will prosecute those who commit perjury.”

Brown faces a maximum term of five years in prison when he is sentenced May 23.