KEALAKEKUA — Two trials have been scheduled for a Leilani Estates man facing charges at the state and federal levels in connection with a 2018 shooting incident in Puna.
On Thursday morning, John William Hubbard appeared in 3rd Circuit Court before Judge Melvin Fujino to address his mental fitness. Four doctors’ reports indicate the 61-year-old is fit to proceed to trial, which was scheduled for April 30.
Charges for the federal and state cases stem from an incident on May 29, 2018. According to Hawaii Police, Hubbard threatened five people and fired multiple gunshots in the area. The reported shooting was captured on video and went viral on social media.
Hubbard was indicted in 3rd Circuit Court on charges of first-degree robbery, carrying a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, illegally carrying a handgun, two counts of first-degree reckless endangering and five counts of first-degree terroristic threatening.
Hubbard was being held at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $195,000 bail, which was posted on Sept. 21.
Hubbard is also facing a federal charge in connection with the May incident. In September, he pleaded not guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in U.S. District Court in Honolulu. A jury trial is scheduled for March 27.
The federal charge stems from the 61-year-old’s prior convictions of a felony drug charge in Kentucky in 1976 and a felony firearms charge in Oregon in 1986.
The U.S. District Court issued a $50,000 warrant for Hubbard’s arrest on June 1. He was arrested on Sept. 24 and held in Honolulu at the Federal Detention Bureau.
According to court documents, Hubbard’s wife posted his bail on the condition he remain on Oahu at Mahoney Hale, a federal halfway house, except for pre-approved pretrial services. Another condition of his release is that he abide by a curfew.
Hubbard’s state case was originally being heard in Hilo, however, circuit court judges Greg Nakamura and Henry Nakamoto recused themselves from hearing the case, perhaps because Hubbard’s wife is state Judiciary employee in Hilo.
The reported shooting occurred during the Kilauea Volcano eruption, which destroyed several homes and properties in Kilauea’s lower East Rift Zone in Puna. One of victims in the reported May incident, a 32-year-old man from Leilani Estates, told police that he and several acquaintances were surveying the area of his former residence that had been taken by lava when they were approached by a man, later identified as Hubbard, in a pickup truck.
The suspect allegedly assaulted, then pointed a firearm at the victim and his group, demanding that they immediately leave the area. During the argument, the suspect fired several gunshots from a handgun.
Keep him in Oahu!