LIHU‘E — Attorneys made their final pre-trial motions in a theft and firearms case that is nearly four years old. Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Randal Valenciano ruled on pretrial motions Nov. 22 in the case of Richard Ernest Louis, who
LIHU‘E — Attorneys made their final pre-trial motions in a theft and firearms case that is nearly four years old.
Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Randal Valenciano ruled on pretrial motions Nov. 22 in the case of Richard Ernest Louis, who he said would finally get his day in court with a jury trial starting today.
The case has been held up in part by attempts to consolidate three co-defendants into one case. As this effort fell apart, Louis refused a plea deal and chose to go to trial.
Louis, 62, of Koloa was arrested Dec. 28, 2007, and arraigned on Jan. 3, 2008, for second-degree theft, five counts of firearms violations, second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug, and illegal use of drug paraphernalia.
County Deputy Prosecutor Yvonne Vieau represented the state in the case at the time of the indictment.
It went through a half-dozen more prosecutors before John Murphy took over in late 2009.
Louis did not qualify for the public defender’s services at the time and after nine attempts to find a private attorney, he has gone through Guy Matsunaga, then Michael Soong and Myles Breiner.
Shauna Lee Cahill has been the appointed attorney since July.
Cahill had previously worked for the County Prosecutor’s Office but this was not considered a conflict because she was not working on this case at that time.
In 2009 the court agreed to a state motion to consolidate Louis’ trial with co-defendants Dominic Warren Vidinha, 40, of Lawa‘i, and Kevin Michael Louis, 36, of Koloa. The resulting confusion with overlapping status entanglements over the next several months caused lengthy delays.
There was also difficulty coordinating witness testimony and then waiting for results from the state crime lab. The entanglements of the defendants overlapped as Vidinha sought a global plea bargain involving other cases and the possibility of Drug Court.
The court denied Soong’s motion to sever all three defendants on May 21, 2009.
Greg Meyers filed a Rule 48 motion on behalf of Vidinha to dismiss his case. He emphasized his objection to the string of continuances from the beginning.
Vidinha pleaded guilty in consolidated cases of third-degree theft and unlawful use or possession of drug paraphernalia on Aug. 13, 2009. He was sentenced to five years probation on Nov. 19.
Kevin Louis had a jury trial in February and was found guilty of second-degree theft. He was found not guilty of four firearms and two drug charges. He was sentenced in June to five years at Halawa Correctional Center.
Breiner represented Richard Louis after December 2009 and moved for a global agreement that Louis refused in March.
To the objection of the state, and of Louis, the court granted Breiner’s motion for a three-panel mental fitness for trial examination. The court ruled Louis fit to proceed based on the reports.
Breiner withdrew in March 2011 and the case was continued again to allow him to apply for services from the public defender’s office.
He qualified this time was appointed outside counsel with Cahill because of a conflict of interest the public defender had with also defending Kevin Louis and Vidinha.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or by emailing tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
