SUNDAY, JUNE 10, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM $1.50
POLICE EVIDENCE QUESTIONED
DEPARTMENT SAYS CHANGES MADE AFTER MATERIALS IN HIGH PROFILE CASES COMPROMISED
A new delta of land is forming where a lava flow pours into the ocean. The flow covered Vacationland
and most of Kapoho Beach Lots and filled in Kapoho Bay. COURTESY PHOTO/USGS
The Kilauea eruption in Puna
continues to reshape the coastline
after devouring Kapoho Bay and
most of its neighboring homes.
About 200 acres of new land has
been created since a lava flow tore
through Vacationland and Kapoho
Beach Lots and began entering the
ocean last week.
A large plume of smoke and gas
from the ocean entry could be seen
in Pahoa on Saturday and elsewhere
in East Hawaii.
About 600 homes have been
KAILUA-KONA — The safety
and integrity of collected
police evidence has been called
into question as reports of lost
and stolen evidence from storage
lockers have come to light.
Hawaii County police attribute
the loss of DNA evidence
in two separate high-profile
2016 criminal cases to rodents.
The items, a bloodied wadding
from a shotgun shell and
a tampon, were drying in an
outdoor evidence locker behind
the Kona Police Station when
police believe a mongoose, or
other type of rodent, snuck in
and snatched them.
“There are a lot of critters
outside the police department,”
said Hawaii Police Department
Area II Assistant Chief Mitchell
Kanehailua, who was stationed
in Kona at the time of the evidence
disappearance. “We have
taken steps to mitigate the
problem.”
The lost DNA evidence
was brought to public awareness
Monday when defense
attorneys attempted to suppress
all DNA evidence and
drop sexual assault charges due
to the loss or spoliation of the
tampon in a reported 2016 rape
case that occurred at Old Kona
Airport Park. While appalled, a
3rd Circuit Court judge determined
the loss to be negligent,
and denied the motion, as the
charges, he said, were far too
serious to drop.
“What were they thinking?”
Judge Robert D.S. Kim
asked the prosecuting attorney
Monday. “Don’t you think in a
sex assault case a tampon in a
victim is critical in this case?”
Deputy Prosecutor Sheri
Lawson agreed the loss of evidence
was reckless but unintentional.
She added the tampon
isn’t a critical loss.
On Wednesday, Kanehailua
agreed that when animals tamper
with evidence in the outdoor
locker it definitely affects
integrity.
“Sometimes these things
happen, however, we have
taken steps to make sure they
don’t,” he said.
Rodents ate the evidence
Monday’s hearing was for
Tyron Sigrah and Samuel
Latrik, accused in the reported
Sept. 3, 2016, rape at Old
Kona Airport Park. The teens
are facing sexual assault, terroristic
threatening and kidnapping
charges in connection
with the incident. Police says
two boys approached a woman,
punched and sexually assaulted
her. Police added the boys fled
when confronted by an unidentified
person.
During the investigation, a
tampon was collected. After
learning of its loss while stored
in the outdoor evidence locker,
Kim, the judge, questioned why
it didn’t warrant the dismissal
of sex assault charges.
“It causes me concern,
because evidence is to be safeguarded,”
Kim said Monday.
During Monday’s hearing,
Kim cited this was not the first
time evidence has gone missing
from the Kona Police Station’s
outdoor evidence locker. Also
in 2016, a bloodied wadding
from a shotgun shell collected
as evidence in connection
to the death of Alanaokala
Solomon Covington, who was
the victim of what authorities
say was a vigilante killing
by Gafatasi Napoleon. The
defense attorney at the time
also tried to suppress DNA evidence
due to spoliation, which
was denied.
Napoleon ultimately pleaded
guilty to manslaughter with
a firearm in 2017. He is serving
a 20-year prison sentence with
a mandatory eight years to be
served before becoming eligible
for parole.
The outdoor evidence locker
at the Kona Police Station is
a large cage. Within that cage
are smaller cages that police
store collected evidence. After
the incidents of lost evidence,
police reinforced the smaller
cages with smaller screening
to keep mongooses and other
animals out.
Since then, Kanehailua said,
there have been no incidents
or indications of animals taking
evidence.
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HI 86 LO 71 WEATHER, PAGE 6A
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58551 00781 7
VOL. 50, NO. 161 28 PAGES
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
“It causes me
concern, because
evidence is to be
safeguarded.”
HON. ROBERT D.S. KIM
3RD CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE
KILAUEA ERUPTION
INSIDE
KING
KAMEHAMEHA
DAY PARADE
Genuine island spirit
PAGE 9A
▼
EDITORIAL: Cutting through the haze of doublespeak on vog — Opinion, 6A
▼
SEE EVIDENCE PAGE 8A
Terra Nova
PUNA COASTLINE UNDERGOING TRANSFORMATION
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
Volunteers build microunits Saturday at
Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pahoa for
people displaced by the Kilauea eruption. TOM
CALLIS/TRIBUNE-HERALD
Housing in a jiffy
SACRED HEART CATHOLIC CHURCH
AND VOLUNTEERS JOIN FORCES TO
HOUSE EVACUEES IN NEED
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
Gilbert Aguinaldo hadn’t seen anything happen
like this before, at least not so rapidly.
What started as an idea two or three weeks ago to
build micro-units for those displaced by the Kilauea
eruption became reality Saturday as 150 to 180
volunteers constructed a village of small shelters at
Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pahoa.
“This is the first-ever project built in our county,
any county and also the state of Hawaii, to go up this
fast,” he said. “That’s awesome.”
SEE LAVA PAGE 7A SEE HOUSING PAGE 7A
link