KAILUA-KONA — A Circuit Court judge recently reduced bail by 90% for the last of seven people charged in connection with aiding accused cop killer Justin Waiki in July 2018.
Jamie Jason is now being held on $100,000 bail following an Oct. 11 hearing before Judge Robert D.S. Kim. Her bail had been set at $1 million since she and six others were indicted on various charges by a Big Island grand jury last August in connection with the incident.
Jason is facing two counts first-degree hindering prosecution, first-degree attempted murder, and two firearms offenses, ownership or possession prohibited fugitive for alleged role in aiding Waiki in the days after he fatally shot Hawaii Police Department Officer Bronson Kaliloa last summer.
It was the second attempt by her former court-appointed attorney Jeffrey Hawk to secure supervised released or reduced bail for Jason. Prosecutors opposed the motion.
In November 2018, Kim entertained reducing bail to $100,000, but held off on entering an order until receiving an updated bail study. During a continued hearing on Nov. 26, the judge maintained bail at $1 million.
West Hawaii Today incorrectly reported previously in an article published Nov. 20 that the bail had already been reduced, and it was referenced in an editorial published three days later.
Jason was among four people in a silver Toyota 4-Runner with Waiki when police tracked the man down three days after he fatally shot Kaliloa during a traffic stop on Highway 11 in Puna. Waiki was killed in an exchange of bullets on South Point Road during which another officer suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds.
Jury trial continues today for the three others in the vehicle, Krystle Ferreira, Malia Lajala and Jorge Pagan-Torres. They are each accused of two counts of first-degree hindering prosecution and first-degree attempted murder. Pagan-Torres and Lajala remain in custody in lieu of $1 million; Ferreira is free on $100,000 bail.
Jason is being tried separately from the three after Kim severed proceedings against her from the other three in July after trial for the four scheduled to begin in June was delayed amid arguments over appeals and jurisdiction.
The Intermediate Court of Appeals has yet to issue a ruling on the state’s appeal of Kim’s order suppressing Jason’s statements while she was hospitalized. Circuit Court proceedings, and thus trial of Jason, are on-hold pending the appeal.
If Jason posts bail, she will be required to undergo electronic monitoring, according to Kim’s Oct. 11 order reducing bail.
Three others were also charged in connection with the case; Kiel Brende and Mokihana Veincent have since pleaded out and been sentenced while the third, Taumi Carr, awaits trial in December.
