Briefs 02-17

Selwyn prosecution deferred

Prosecution of a Kona woman found guilty in 2009 of filing a false report to law enforcement has been deferred after the state appeals court remanded the case to Circuit Court.

Sharon Louise Selwyn, 60, a former Waimea resident, entered into a “deferred prosecution agreement” with Hawaii County Deputy Prosecutor Ricky Damerville on Jan. 30, according to 3rd Circuit Court records.

The agreement stipulates she not commit a crime for one month or until contributing $400 to the state General Fund, which Selwyn said she paid Feb. 10. The case is dismissed with prejudice, which means she can’t be retried.

The agreement can be offered at a prosecutor’s discretion to defer prosecution, so long as the cited person meets certain conditions, according to Hawaii Revised Statutes. It is not considered an admission of guilt and if all terms are met, a person’s arrest, indictment and plea records shall be cleared.

The Intermediate Court of Appeals in August remanded the case to 3rd Circuit Court after determining a prosecutor’s remarks during rebuttal that the victim of false reporting is the community and police were “improper” and may have contributed to Selwyn’s conviction.

The appeals court, however, did not find evidence to overturn the conviction, according to the ruling.

Honaunau man in custody

A 27-year-old Honaunau man is in police custody after setting himself afire and attempting to do the same to his ex-girlfriend Tuesday in South Kona.

The 26-year-old woman did not require medical attention for injuries she suffered in the incident reported at 1:21 a.m., according to the Hawaii Police Department.

Police initially responded to a report of a man carrying a knife while walking on Tobacco Road in Honaunau. En route, according to police, officers received updates that a home at the location was on fire.

Upon arrival, officers said the 27-year-old man had reportedly gone to the home of his ex-girlfriend, poured a flammable liquid on the home’s front porch and lit it, according to police. The woman was able to escape the home through a window.

However, the suspect subsequently restrained her and poured the flammable liquid on her and upon himself, according to police.

The woman’s relatives, who live in another home on the same property, heard the commotion, exited their residence and pulled the 27-year-old man away from the woman, according to police. As a relative worked to quash the flames on the porch, the suspect reportedly lit himself on fire.

The woman’s relatives helped the suspect extinguish the flames before he fled the property on foot, according to police. A short time later, he called 911 and was taken to Kona Community Hospital for treatment.

The suspect was released from the hospital Wednesday morning and subsequently arrested on suspicion of abuse, terroristic threatening and arson, according to police. He remains held at the Kona police cell block while detectives continue the investigation.

West Hawaii Today is not identifying the man because he had not been charged with a crime as of press time on Thursday.

Fire burns Pahala warehouse

Fire officials are investigating the cause of a structure fire Thursday in Pahala.

Firefighters responding to an 11:57 a.m. report of a fire at the Pahala Mill off Maile Street found a portion of a 40-by-30-foot abandoned warehouse on fire with smoke emanating from an unsecured doorway, according to the Hawaii Fire Department.

The fire, which involved paper left on the floor, was extinguished at 1:15 p.m., according to the department. No damage estimate was provided.

Life term for murder of mainland tourist, 25

HONOLULU — A man convicted of murdering a New Mexico tourist whose nude body was found on a Waikiki beach has been sentenced to life in prison.

A judge on Wednesday sentenced Aaron Susa to a life term with the possibility of parole. He must spend at least 10 years behind bars before being eligible for parole.

Susa was arrested three days after Bryanna Antone of Rio Rancho, N.M. was found dead on the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 2009. She was in Waikiki to celebrate her 25th birthday and join her family at an American Dental Association convention.

The medical examiner’s office concluded she drowned but had strangulation neck injuries.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the judge also ordered Susa to pay Antone’s family for her funeral costs.

3rd Hawaii-based Marine to be tried in hazing case

HONOLULU — A third Hawaii-based Marine accused of hazing a fellow Marine who later committed suicide in Afghanistan will be tried in a general court martial next week.

U.S. Marine Forces Pacific says the trial of Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III will start Tuesday in Kaneohe Bay.

The case involves the treatment of Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, who shot himself on April 3.

Orozco has been charged with assault, humiliating Lew, cruelty and maltreatment. The charges allege he put his foot Lew’s back, ordered Lew to do pushups, and poured sand into Lew’s face.

A sergeant accused in the case was acquitted last week. A lance corporal last month pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 30 days confinement and a reduction in rank to private first class.

Marine charged with attempted murder

HONOLULU — A Hawaii-based Marine has been indicted on an attempted murder charge.

Lance Cpl. Brandon Calhoun is accused of beating a 48-year-old man into a coma during a Feb. 8 argument in Waikiki. Prosecutors say Calhoun allegedly punched the victim at least seven times and struck him with a chair. The victim remains hospitalized in a coma and in critical condition.

An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment charging the 22-year-old Kaneohe Marine with second-degree attempted murder.

He remains held on $200,000. He could not be reached Thursday at the Oahu Community Correctional Center.

Kauai police shoot, kill man wanted on warrant

LIHUE, Kauai — A wanted man shot by Kauai police attempting to arrest him has died.

Sixty-two-year-old Richard Louis was shot by an officer Wednesday. Police say Louis was wanted on a $310,000 warrant and was resisting arrest when he was shot.

He was flown to a Honolulu hospital, where he died shortly after midnight Thursday.

Details were not immediately available about the warrant and the circumstances of the shooting.

Giugni appointed to Aiea in House seat

HONOLULU — Gov. Neil Abercrombie has appointed producer Heather Giugni to the state House of Representatives.

Giugni will represent Aiea and Halawa, filling the seat recently vacated former Rep. Tom Okamura. Okamura was appointed in January, but stepped down a few weeks later due to health reasons.

Abercrombie issued a press release Thursday announcing Giugni’s appointment.

Giugni’s upbringing helped define her commitment to uplifting youth and building a better future for Hawaii, he said. Her technology and communications skills will be an asset to the Legislature, he added.

Giugni, owner of Juniroa Productions, has 25 years of film and video experience. She is a founding member of Uluulu: The Henry K. Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawai’i and has worked on programs and documentaries highlighting Hawaii’s history, culture and traditions.

Animal advocates decry puppy mill sentence

KANEOHE, Oahu — Animal advocates are upset about the punishment against a former company that operated Hawaii’s largest puppy mill.

The Hawaiian Humane Society says the $370,000 restitution to the society for recovering more than 150 dogs and $306,000 in fines are not enough because the former officers aren’t barred from owning another animal business.

Now-defunct Bradley International was sentenced Wednesday after pleading no contest to 153 counts of animal cruelty.

Bradley International defense attorney Jason Burks says the company has no assets.

Search for overboard man off Lanai coast

LANAI CITY, Lanai — Rescuers are searching for a 45-year-old man who went overboard a boat about two miles off Lanai.

Maui County firefighters and the Coast Guard were alerted early Thursday that the man went overboard from a 37-foot vessel named “No Problem.”

Crews are searching from the air and water.

Schools seek parental feedback with surveys

HONOLULU — The Hawaii Department of Education wants feedback from parents to help improve schools.

Schools will begin mailing or sending surveys home with students in various grades from four to 11.

The surveys will provide schools with data on parental opinions on topics including course offerings, support services, and school security.

Parents are asked to return the surveys by March 30. Individual survey response will be kept confidential. Results for each school will be available by the end of the school year.

Students, teachers and personnel will also be asked to complete similar surveys in school.

Graduate students push for collective bargaining

HONOLULU — Graduate students at the University of Hawaii want the right to bargain as a state employee unit.

The Graduate Student Organization says it’s closer to being able to negotiate working conditions and salary increases because of a bill before the state Legislature.

The bill would remove a restriction that currently prohibits graduate students from negotiating their contracts. The Hawaii Government Employees Association and other unions have joined with the graduate students in supporting the bill.

GSO President Anjali Nath issued a press release urging lawmakers to support House Bill 2859. She says without a proper channel for grievance, graduate assistants can do little to express their opinions or protect themselves from employer abuse.

Nath says graduate assistant pay scales haven’t increased in eight years, despite increased teaching loads.

Foreclosures at highest level since new law

HONOLULU — A report by a real estate research firm says Hawaii foreclosures were highest last month since a state law took effect that changed rules for out-of-court foreclosures.

RealtyTrac released its report Wednesday, showing January had 652 foreclosures actions statewide — the highest amount since June. That is still 34 percent below the 985 cases filed in January 2011, suggesting that the new law is still having a dampening effect and providing relief to troubled borrowers.

Act 48 gives qualified home owners the option of using a mediator to help with foreclosure mitigation, which is meant to curb lender abuses.

Lenders didn’t like a provision that would render a nonjudicial foreclosure sale void for even minor violations of the law, resulting in cases being filed in court.

Flags will fly half-staff Saturday in honor of Lee

HONOLULU — Hawaii flags will fly at half-staff Saturday in honor of late Rep. Samuel Lee.

Lee, who served in the State House of Representatives from 1986 to 1996, died Feb. 10.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie ordered that all flags at state offices and agencies fly at half-staff, and also issued a proclamation honoring Lee.

The proclamation honors Lee as a diplomat who served in the U.S. Foreign Service for 26 years, chairman of the Mililani Neighborhood Board and community leader. As a community organizer, Lee led a campaign that forced developers to correct pesticide contamination in Mililani.

Abercrombie also expressed condolences for Lee’s family. Lee is survived by his wife, state Rep. Marilyn Lee; his daughter Kammy; and sons John, Tom and Andrew.

Navy names destroyers after Marine, sailor

HONOLULU — The Navy is naming two guided missile destroyers after Hawaii military men awarded the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.

The Navy said Wednesday one ship is being named the USS John Finn, after a sailor who received the Medal of Honor for displaying “magnificent courage in the face of almost certain death” as Japanese planes attacked Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay on Dec. 7, 1941.

Despite head wounds and other injuries, Finn fired a machine gun from an exposed position. He died last year at age 100.

Another ship is being named the USS Rafael Peralta after a Hawaii-based Marine Corps staff sergeant who selflessly covered a grenade with his body to save fellow Marines from the blast in Iraq. Peralta was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

By local and wire sources