Three cases originally scheduled for trial in 5th Circuit Court yesterday were instead postponed to dates over the next three months as suspects charged with the crimes of sexual assault, drug promotion and theft await their fates. Randy Udaundo, 28,
Three cases originally scheduled for trial in 5th Circuit Court yesterday were instead postponed to dates over the next three months as suspects charged with the crimes of sexual assault, drug promotion and theft await their fates.
Randy Udaundo, 28, of Lihu‘e, was arrested in December 2007 on suspicion of two counts of sexual assault in the first degree, Class A felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison per count.
According to court records, Udaundo stands charged with the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes subsection pertaining to sexual penetration with minors between 14 and 16 years of age.
Trial was first set for February, and has now been continued five times. The next scheduled court appearance is Sept. 11, when Udaundo may change his plea to no contest rather than face a jury trial in front of Chief Judge Randal Valenciano.
According to court minutes, defense attorney June Ikemoto requested the delay so that she could review a new plea offer and discuss the case with another attorney, Emmanuel Guerrero.
The county prosecutor’s office said that Udaundo is a Filipino national and that Guerrero specializes in immigration, as well as criminal, law.
Guerrero declined to comment on his role in the case at this time. A phone message left for Ikemoto was not returned as of press time.
In a second case, Lincoln Robert Hueston, 55, of Kapa‘a, has been accused of 106 felonies, including one count of first-degree theft and 105 counts of second-degree forgery, for allegedly defrauding William King and/or King Marine Incorporated and its subsidiary King Marine Communications, Inc. of more than $20,000 between March 2005 and October 2007.
All told, Hueston could face up to 535 years in jail if convicted of all counts.
Hueston was arrested on July 14, according to Kaua‘i Police Department records, and entered a not guilty plea the following day, according to 5th Circuit Court records.
Yesterday in Judge Kathleen Watanabe’s courtroom, deputy public defender John Calma said that he had met with Hueston for the first time last week and requested a continuance.
The trial is now set to begin on Oct. 20.
In a third case, Robert Barrack, 38, of Anahola, has been charged with third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, possession of drug paraphernalia and seven firearms violations.
Barrack was arrested in November 2006 and, after multiple procedural delays, has spent much of this year applying for entry into the Kaua‘i Drug Court, started in August 2003 as an alternative to incarceration for nonviolent substance abusers.
Yesterday, probation officer Jennifer Tone read a letter from Drug Court Coordinator Alton Animoto.
“We do not believe Mr. Barrack is motivated for treatment at this time,” Tone said.
Animoto confirmed in a phone interview with The Garden Island that Barrack had been denied admittance into the program.
The trial is scheduled to commence on Nov. 3 in Judge Watanabe’s courtroom.
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
