KEALAKEKUA— The trial that could send a Kailua-Kona man to prison for life was delayed Tuesday.
KEALAKEKUA— The trial that could send a Kailua-Kona man to prison for life was delayed Tuesday.
Darren Kamu Grace, 33, faces 19 charges after an arrest on Aug. 21, 2015. His trial was reset to 9 a.m. Oct. 4 by Kona Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra after potential jurors who did not check the automated system, as instructed, arrived, including one reportedly from Hilo.
Grace is charged with four counts of fourth-degree theft, three counts of unauthorized entry of a propelled vehicle, two counts of third-degree theft, and one count each of first-degree robbery, unauthorized control of a proppeled vehicle, first-degree burglary, first-degree theft, second-degree burglary, second degree theft, second-degree criminal property damage, fourth-degree criminal property damage, unauthorized possession of personal information and first-degree criminal trespass.
A resident told police he was awoken by a “loud banging noise from the condo’s garage,” police said of the 2015 incident that resulted in the charges. The man investigated and found an unknown man and woman standing next to another resident’s parked car.
The two people ran to a gold SUV and jumped in, where a male and female were sitting in the back seat. When the man tried to stop the strangers from leaving by taking the keys to the SUV, the driver pointed a handgun at him. The resident then threw the keys into the SUV, left and called police.
After Grace’s arrest, police said they recovered items taken in other burglaries during the previous three days.
Four firearms counts were dismissed after Ibarra ruled the prosecution violated Grace’s due process right to a fair and impartial grand jury proceeding.
Prosecutors are seeking to keep Grace in prison for life, in part, because of criminal record.
Grace’s first felony charge was in 2000, when he was pleaded no contest to first-degree terroristic threatening. A charge of third-degree assault was dismissed as part of the plea. He was granted a five-year deferral, which was revoked on Sept. 26, 2001, when he was assigned to probation. This was revoked and he was ordered to serve up to five years in prison on April 29, 2002.
Grace is represented by Terri L. Fujioka-Lilley.